Trump wants to reverse ZTE sanctions after talking with China's Xi - Financial Times

The Financial Times is reporting that US President Donald Trump is seeking to rollback sanctions against the Chinese company ZTE following an April decision to ban the company from seeking vital components from the US after it was found the company illegally sold equipment to restricted countries Iran and North Korea.

Key quotes

"That move in effect put ZTE out of business, and the company announced on Friday it had halted operations because of the seven-year ban.

The commerce department barred ZTE from purchasing components in the US for seven years after it was caught violating the terms of a $1.2bn settlement agreed last year in which ZTE admitted illegally selling equipment that included sensitive US parts to Iran and North Korea.

Wilbur Ross, commerce secretary, accused ZTE of “egregious” behaviour that could not be ignored.

It also marks the second time in the last month the Trump administration has moved to roll back sanctions against a foreign company that had nearly been pushed into insolvency, raising questions over how thoroughly the White House is co-ordinating sanctions policy with federal agencies. In April, the administration signalled it was prepared to undo sanctions against Russian aluminium group Rusal after the measures sent metals prices skyrocketing."