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ZTE’s export ban may soon be lifted w/ US deal [Update: Deal reached]

It’s been a really rough couple of months for ZTE, but according to new reports, the company’s troubles may soon be over as it has apparently nearly reached a deal with the US government.

Update: As of June 7th, ZTE and the US government have officially reached a deal which will enable the Chinese manufacturer to stay in business. The details of the deal are the same as listed in the below report.


If you’ll recall, last month ZTE was handed an export ban as the result of not following the terms of a court case years ago. That led to the company no longer being able to use products coming from the United States, and even halted the company’s major operations for a while.

Now, though, Reuters is reporting that a deal has been negotiated that would allow ZTE to get back in business with the export ban behind them, but with some big changes. Apparently, the US is fining ZTE to the tune of $1 billion with $400 million in escrow on top of that to cover future violations.

As part of this deal, ZTE will also have to replace its board within 30 days as well as accepting “unfettered site visits” from the US to ensure that components are being used for their claimed purpose. Post calculations of US parts in the company’s products would also have to be on a public website.

Early reports claimed that ZTE had already signed an agreement with the US with these terms, but a spokesperson in touch with Politico says that “no definitive agreement has been signed by both parties.” Apparently, a part of the reason is that ZTE wants to replace a top executive with one from another company which the US considers a potential threat, so we’ll have to wait and see where things go from here…


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Avatar for Ben Schoon Ben Schoon

Ben is a Senior Editor for 9to5Google.

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