US president Donald Trump has reportedly reached a deal with China that will allow ZTE to remain in business, but US lawmakers are threatening to ban all Chinese vendors in response.
In a recent Tweet, Trump confirmed that his administration has outlined a deal for members of the US Congress that would see the import ban on ZTE lifted in exchange for a number of concessions from the company.
According to Bloomberg, these conditions include paying a hefty $1.3 billion fine, changing its management and board and providing high-level security guarantees.
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ZTE would also reportedly be required to hire US compliance officers to monitor its operations and conduct compliance checks.
But the agreement will require congressional approval, and could still be blocked if enough lawmakers object to the proposal.
Congress has already passed a measure that would ban government agencies from using technology made by ZTE and several other Chinese companies .
The Senate has also released a bill that would require Trump to certify with congress that ZTE hasn't broken any US law for the past year and is co-operating with US investigations before making any deal to overturn ZTE's US ban.
US senator Marco Rubio has also revealed he expects congress to go a step further and pursue a measure to block ZTE, Huawei and other Chinese companies from operating in the US, citing the ongoing fears their equipment could be used to help China spy on the US.