United States Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross announced on Thursday a deal about an enforcement action was struck with representatives of ZTE Corp. from China, regarding an alleged breach of sanctions against Iran and North Korea. The technology heavyweight will replace the entire board in 30 days and pay $1 billion, he revealed to CNBC and added $400 million more would be put in escrow as a precaution and "a very powerful deterrent."
The agreement is "quite separate and apart" from the comprehensive bilateral talks about trade relations, the top US official claimed. The administration in Washington has been executing enforcement action "every week" against China and other countries, he added. ZTE will pay for a compliance team with members who will be picked by the US, according to Ross.
