“America needs Huawei more than Huawei needs America”, chief security officer of Huawei Technologies USA Andy Purdy said in a press conference at the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) Telecom World 2019 on Tuesday.

He also added that a US ban on Chinese company’s products “will hurt America in a very substantial way”.

About 30% of components for Huawei’s products are currently provided by the United States, according to Purdy, who stated that in 2018 the Chinese telecom giant spent around $11 billion on buying technologies from 130 US companies.

However in May 2019, Washington blacklisted Huawei and around 70 of its affiliates from purchasing technological components from US partners without relevant governmental authorisation. Purdy believes that many US companies are going to lose out because the ban could affect around 40,000 jobs around the US.

The blacklisting was explained by the “technological threats” that were allegedly coming from selling the US technologies to Huawei, as Washington accused the telecom company of collaborating with Chinese military and intelligence services via illegal surveillance practices. Huawei has repeatedly denied the accusations.

“All these technologies have already gone through the clearance to show that they don’t damage the security of the United States”, Purdy stated during the conference, “that’s why they are allowed to be purchased by us and sold by us worldwide”.

“Blocking Huawei will not make America more secure”, the official argued, adding that there is no confirmed evidence of any misconduct by Huawei.

He also revealed that the company was doing well even without “significant penetration” into the US market.

Huawei has reportedly struck more than 50 commercial 5G contracts around the world despite being banned from some major industrial markets, such as Japan and Australia, an accomplishment that currently puts it ahead of its closest rival telecom brands Nokia and Ericsson.

President of Huawei’s 5G Product Line Yang Chaobin argued that the company won’t suffer heavily from not being able to purchase certain components from the US because according to Huawei’s principle, it does not rely “on any single supplier or any single country”.

In January 2019, Washington issued indictments against Huawei, later blacklisting the Chinese tech giant and around 70 of its subsidiaries from purchasing US technology over charges of industrial espionage and wire fraud. Both Huawei and Beijing denied the claims, calling them unjustified and politically motivated anti-competitive practices amid an escalation in the trade war between China and the US.

The standoff between economic giants recently escalated, after Donald Trump announced another hike on existing tariffs on $550 billion worth of imports from China, which came as a retaliatory move after a new round of tariffs was announced by Beijing.