The US and China have agreed a deal that would lift the export ban against ZTE, allowing the company to continue business after making changes to its management, people with knowledge of the matter in both countries told the Wall Street Journal.
The details are still being negotiated, but the broad outline would see the Trump administration remove the ban on US companies selling components and software to ZTE. Instead, ZTE would be forced to make "big changes in management, board seats and possibly pay significant fines," the report said.
China has also offered to remove tariffs on billions of dollars of US farm products as part of the negotiations. The US did not offer similar concessions on trade, with one source saying: "The White House was meticulous in affirming that the case is a law enforcement matter and not a bargaining chip in negotiations."
The report cautioned that discussions are continuing and the agreement could still fall apart.
On 21 May, US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told CNBC that "the intent was not to put the company out of business." Mnuchin also defended Trump’s decision to keep ZTE alive.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi is due in Washington this week and will continue talks on ZTE, said officials involved in his trip. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, who oversees the ZTE case, is scheduled to go to Beijing next week. Earlier, Washington and Beijing said they'd agreed a standstill in their looming trade war, with both holding back on threatened tariffs pending further talks.
