The Trump administration may be taking a hard line on banning U.S. chip firms from selling to Huawei, but the Chinese telecom giant is not responding with a similarly harsh attitude.

Huawei will “always need U.S. chips,” CEO Ren Zhengfei told reporters Tuesday.

What the U.S. government chooses to do is beyond Huawei’s control, he added, and the most important thing at the moment is to keep Huawei’s own operations running smoothly.

The U.S. Commerce Department is granting a 90-day period before the full bans go into effect, to give suppliers time to adjust. It will evaluate whether to grant companies exceptions after the 90-day period.

Ren’s comments seemed to signal to U.S. firms that the company is still interested in American chip-related technology. “We can also produce chips as good as the U.S. chips, but it doesn’t mean we are not purchasing those anymore,” he said.

Ren also urged Chinese consumers not to overly associate Huawei with politics. Using Huawei products to show one’s patriotism was unwise and could result in “populism,” which would be harmful to the country, he said.

Related: U.S. Tech Firms Cut Off Huawei