Chinese telecommunications firm ZTE Corp. is racing to comply with an agreement under which the Trump administration would lift a ban on its U.S. sales before GOP lawmakers nullify the deal.
The Commerce Department said earlier this year it would drop the seven-year sales prohibition for violating U.S. sanctions on North Korea and Iran, in exchange for the firm’s overhaul of its executive team and a $1.4 billion fine. Fourteen directors, including Chairman Yin Yimin and President Zhao Xianming, resigned from the company’s board on Friday, ZTE said in a filing.
That may not make a difference. Elected officials in the U.S. have long charged that ZTE effectively operates as a conduit for Chinese espionage in the U.S., and lawmakers like Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., were outraged by the administration’s decision to lift the ban, which had forced ZTE to temporarily shutter its U.S. operations.
The Senate included a provision to overturn the deal in its annual defense policy bill. While the House counterpart doesn’t contain that measure, the chamber on Thursday passed a $675 billion funding bill for the Pentagon that included a provision blocking the military from purchasing any products from ZTE and fellow Chinese telecommunications firm Huawei Inc.
