A US Federal Appeals Court has refused to hear Chinese tech giant Huawei’s request to throw out a rule used to bar rural phone carriers on national security grounds from using government funds to purchase its equipment.

The court ruled US regulators were fully within their power to issue the rule barring subsidy recipients from buying equipment or services from companies deemed national security risks.

The court also dismissed a claim by Huawei that the regulators lacked the expertise to designate the company’s equipment as a security risk to US telecommunications infrastructure.