The Trump administration told Congress lawmakers it managed to reach a deal that would lift sanctions from the Chinese telecom firm ZTE in exchange for a "substantial fine," the New York Times reported on Friday, citing a source familiar with the matter. Besides the fine, the deal brokered by the Commerce Department requires the Shenzhen-based company to make changes to its management structure and hire American compliance officers to be placed at the firm, the report added. In return, the US would once again allow ZTE to buy products from American companies such as Qualcomm, its key supplier.
In April, the US Commerce Department banned ZTE from buying American technology components for seven years for breaching US sanctions against Iran and North Korea. However, it was reported recently that Trump tried to save ZTE in order to obtain trade concession from China involving purchases of agriculture and energy products. Trump has himself stated that the ZTE deal is only a part of a much larger trade deal that is in the making between the two largest economies in the world.
