US allows ZTE transactions to maintain networks

(Reuters) – The US Department of Commerce on Tuesday granted a temporary stay to ZTE Corp <000063.SZ > which allows China's second largest telecom equipment maker to manage existing networks and equipment in the United States. the lifting of a ban on sales in the United States.

L & # Authorized US Commerce The Bureau of Industry and Services Department, dated July 2 and which was seen by Reuters, runs until August 1.

ZTE and US Commerce Department spokespersons did not respond to requests for comment.

ZTE, which manufactures smartphones and network equipment, was forced to cease major operations in April after the United States imposed a ban on punishing US leaders who conspired against the company. Iran and North Korea. .

The company had also agreed to pay a $ 1 billion fine and put $ 400 million into an escrow account as part of the deal with US suppliers – which provide close to a third of the components used in the equipment of ZTE.

The escrow agreement is still in progress, according to a source. Until it is executed, ZTE can not deposit the $ 400 million escrow necessary to obtain the lifting of the ban.

While the refusal order is still in place, the authority grants a waiver to some companies that do business with ZTE to do so for a month, a source told Reuters.

The exemptions allow a limited type of activity but do not allow any new activity.

Last month, a US Commerce Department official told Reuters that ZTE was to deposit the $ 400 million into an escrow account in the "coming days," saying that it was the last step before the ban is lifted.

Uncertainty surrounding the ban on intensifying trade tensions between China and the United States has brought down the action of ZTE, which has yielded 60% since the recovery last month after two months of shutdown.

ZTE announced a new council last week in a radical reshuffle of management under a $ 1.4 billion deal with the United States. [nL4N1TV3KS]