ZTE could soon be back to work after signing a significant deal with the US government.
In a statement, the US Commerce Department said it had signed a deal with the troubled Chinese technology firm which should clear the latter to return to normal operations.
The ban on ZTE in the US will now be lifted when the company pays $400m into an escrow account - on top of the $1 billion fine it has already had to pay.
“Today’s announcement marks the beginning of the end of this long-running saga,” said Washington attorney Douglas Jacobson, who represents ZTE suppliers, according to Reuters.
ZTE US return
ZTE has been banned from the US since April after breaching an agreement on doing deals with Iran and North Korea.
Under the terms of the ban, the company was also told to change its management team, including dismissing any employee at a senior vice president level or above.
ZTE revealed Xu Ziyang, the former head of the company’s German business, as its new CEO last week.
ZTE, which employs around 80,000 people, effectively suspended its business following the ban, with some estimates saying as much as 30 per cent of its components were sourced from America.
The lifting of the ban also coincides with the Trump administration placing hundreds of millions of dollars worth of tariffs on Chinese goods, however it remains to be seen how this will affect ZTE.
- Check out the best mobile deals for July 2018
