The department in an emailed notice said the 45-day extension is needed to give rural telecommunication providers the ability to operate existing networks while they identify alternatives to gear from Huawei.

US officials have said Huawei poses an espionage risk, and have pressed allies to omit its gear from their advanced networks.

Huawei, based in Shenzhen, China, denies it poses a security risk.

The Commerce Department last May banned most US business with Huawei, and has since passed a series of extensions aimed at limiting the harm to American companies.

The Commerce Department intends to determine the need for further extensions during the next 45 days, the agency said in Thursday’s notice.

The Commerce Department notice was released on the same day that the US Justice Department brought fresh criminal charges against the company over allegations that it had engaged in decades of intellectual property theft.