(Yicai Global) March 22 -- Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei today responded to rumors that US retail chain Best Buy will stop sales of its smartphones, saying the company values its relations with all partners and understands and respects its position.

"We will not disclose the details of the cooperation, given the requirement of trade secrets," Huawei replied to a query from finance.qq.com. Huawei, the world's third-largest handset maker, has many other retail outlets in the US, and the Federal Communications Commission has certified its phones, which enjoy wide use among companies and people in over 170 countries, the company said.

Best Buy Co., the biggest US electronics retailer and based in Richfield in the north-central US state of Minnesota, has ceased ordering new devices from Shenzhen, Guangdong province-based Huawei Technologies Co. and will stop selling its products over the next few weeks, US media portal CNET reported yesterday.

US authorities have opposed Huawei imports over concerns they may threaten national information security. A group of US lawmakers requested documents from government agencies on Huawei, saying its devices could engage in "nefarious activities against the United States," as Reuters reported in July. The FCC cited "Chinese espionage in general, and Huawei's role in that espionage in particular" as grounds for its opposition, the Global Times reported in January. US lawmakers also pressured the second-largest US telecommunications provider AT&T Corp. to cancel its planned cooperation with Huawei, which was to be announced during the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Nevada in the US early this year. AT&T had planned to sell Huawei's Mate 10.

Most Americans buy phones from service providers, but Huawei has thus far found no telecom in the country to sell its. Its handsets are still on sale on e-commerce platform Amazon.com, however.

Huawei rival and Shenzhen neighbor ZTE Corp. has also come into Washington's sights as a potential conduit of intelligence to Beijing in a further sign the trade war simmering between the two superpowers is becoming increasingly politicized.