The Trump administration has approved “several” individual licences for US companies to do business with Huawei, the Chinese telecommunications equipment maker, as it seeks to cushion the impact of an export ban introduced this year that has soured trade relations between Washington and Beijing.

The US commerce department announced the move in a statement on Wednesday, as officials from the world’s two largest economies struggled to reach a limited truce in their trade war that would avoid a new escalation in tariffs in the middle of next month.

“The Department is issuing these narrow licenses to authorise limited and specific activities which do not pose a significant risk to the national security or foreign policy interests of the United States,” it said.