Chinese telecommunications company Huawei will move its research and development center in the United States to Canada, as the firm faces a blacklist imposed by Washington.

"The research and development center will move from the United States and Canada will be the center," Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei told Canada's Globe and Mail newspaper Tuesday. "According to the U.S. ban, we couldn't communicate, call, email or contact our own employees in the United States."

In June, Huawei laid off 600 people at its research center in Santa Clara, California, leaving the center with 250 employees. Huawei spent approximately $510 million on its U.S. research division last year.

The blacklist was imposed by the Trump administration in May, with most U.S. companies banned from selling to the Chinese company. The blacklist was enacted due to alleged national security concerns from Huawei's operations.

In November, the U.S. government granted a 90-day reprieve to companies in rural parts of the country that buy equipment from Huawei.

Chip manufacturers have been hard hit by the Huawei blacklist. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said in early November that some American companies selling to Huawei would be granted licenses "very shortly" to bypass the Huawei ban.

In September, Huawei claimed that the U.S. used "unscrupulous means" to disrupt its international business operations such as cyberattacks and harassment of Huawei employees from U.S. law enforcement. Huawei provided no evidence to back up the allegations.

In December 2018, Meng Wanzhou, the Chief Financial Officer for Huawei, was arrested in Canada at the request of the U.S. for allegedly defrauding multiple financial institutions to evade sanctions on Iran. She is currently fighting extradition.

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