The US department of commerce is preparing to temporarily lift some sanctions on ZTE, the Chinese telecommunications equipment maker accused of illicitly supplying US technology to Iran.
The sanctions, announced on March 8, in effect ban US companies from supplying one of China’s highest-profile technology companies. After Huawei, ZTE is China’s second-largest global exporter of telecoms infrastructure, and the third-largest seller of Android smartphones in the US.
The ban was imposed after an investigation by the commerce department found earlier this month that ZTE “planned and organised a scheme to establish, control and use a series of ‘detached’ [or shell] companies to illicitly re-export controlled items to Iran in violation of US export control laws” according to a March 8 announcement.