After the controversial ban in April, US government has now reached an agreement with ZTE to lift it up, but with some conditions. Keep scrolling for more juicy news!

US lifts ZTE ban from buying Qualcomm chips.

For those that don’t know, back in April, The U.S. Department of Commerce banned American companies from selling components to telecom equipment maker ZTE Corp. The reason is that the company broke an agreement due to illegally shipping goods to Iran. The ban would prohibit ZTE from conducting business with American companies. And would ban all sales within the US for seven years.

Under terms of the ban, U.S. companies cannot export prohibited goods, such as chipsets, directly to ZTE or via another country. Apparently, this ban has the potential to impact the company’s business in a negative way. American firms are estimated to provide 25% to 30% of the components used in its equipment, ranging from networking gear to smartphones. However, the situation has changed ever since then.

One month later, a new report says that ZTE and the US government have come to terms to get it back in business. Trump has negotiated a $1.3 billion fine with the Chinese President over a phone call. The proposal goes against Congress, and most people believe that the Trump administration should not give into the pressure of easing up on ZTE; since the company broke sanctions against North Korea and Iran. In addition, the US will install US compliance officers to make sure things remain as they should. As promised by President Trump, the seven-year ban will be lifted and no longer valid. But the company will have to make a lot of changes in its management and pay even more fines.

The bright side of the ban lift

The positive action towards ZTE is part of the ending trade stand-off between the two biggest economies in the world. While Washington will allow the Chinese telecommunications company to keep its production going, Beijing will remove taxes on US farm products.