Ren Zhengfei, CEO of Huawei speaking with CNBC at Huawei headquaters in Shenzhen, China. Justin Solomon | CNBC

President Trump softened his stance on Huawei this weekend, telling participants in the G20 economic summit in Osaka that despite his previous blanket ban on the Chinese hardware maker, U.S. tech companies can go back to selling their components and software to Huawei. Chip stocks, including Qualcomm and Broadcom, rose sharply Monday morning on the news but leveled off by the afternoon. The White House and Commerce Department haven't yet clarified whether the policy will affect Huawei's use of Google's Android operating system on many of its mobile devices, or Microsoft's Windows operating system on its computers.

But a Microsoft spokesperson said the company made "an initial evaluation" of the Commerce Department decision on Huawei and will "to continue to offer Microsoft software updates to customers with Huawei devices." "We're still providing Windows software updates to customers with Huawei laptops," the spokesperson said. Google did not immediately respond to comment, and a Huawei spokesperson said the company "had no further details at this time." Huawei will remain on a list of entities banned from certain business activities, Larry Kudlow clarified Sunday, and licenses to sell to the company will be restricted if the U.S. has national security concerns.

A new bargaining chip

Trump also further hinted that trade talks were one avenue through which Huawei may see more restrictions eased in the American marketplace. The issue of whether Huawei should be handled primarily as a national security issue or an economic bargaining chip continues to cause disagreement in Washington. Lawmakers like Republican Sen. Marco Rubio and Democratic Sen. Mark Warner have warned the White House not to mix the country's concerns about Huawei with its economic policy. In response to the walk back, Rubio also introduced legislation to solidify the full ban on Huawei.