Huawei was expected to announce a partnership with AT&T at CES 2018 that would see the latter sell the company’s flagship Mate 10 Pro smartphone in the United States. However, just a day before the partnership was about to go official, AT&T backed away from the deal due to “political pressure.”

The Information reports that on December 20, members of the Senate and House intelligence committees sent a letter to the FCC raising concerns over Huawei’s plan to launch consumer products in the U.S in partnership with a major carrier.  The concerns were raised due to an intelligence report which claimed Huawei has ties with the Communist Party as well as China’s intelligence and security services. Huawei has denied any ties with the intelligence arm of the Chinese government or the Communist Party in the past.

Huawei had exited the U.S market in the past after it was banned by the U.S. government from selling networking and consumer equipment in the country due to its closeness to the Chinese government. The last-minute cancellation of the deal by AT&T took Huawei by surprise. The Chinese company has been aggressively promoting its devices at CES 2018 and is even running an online advertising campaign for the Mate 10 Pro.

After this blow, it is unlikely that Huawei will try to enter the U.S. smartphone market anytime soon. The company’s closeness with the Chinese government will always make the U.S government look at its products with suspicion.