It has been a rough few weeks for Chinese smartphone company ZTE. The United States Department of Commerce recently banned ZTE from sourcing components from U.S-based companies for seven years. What that means for this Android smartphone manufacturer is that it can no longer buy processors from Qualcomm and might even lose its Android license. ZTE has since ceased core business operations but President Trump recently said that he’s working with President Xi of China to get ZTE back into business. His plan to do that has been rejected by lawmakers in the United States.
The ban was placed on ZTE after it was found to have violated an earlier settlement in a sanctions violation case that it lost two years ago. For a company that makes Android smartphones powered by Qualcomm chips, this ban meant that it was effectively the end of the road for ZTE.
President Trump tweeted over the weekend that he’s working with President Xi to give ZTE a way to get back into business, adding that the Department of Commerce had been instructed to make this happen.
Lawmakers in the U.S. today rejected any plan by the president to ease restrictions on ZTE as they called the company a security threat and vowed to not give up on legislation that further clamps down on ZTE.
Some members of Congress have expressed their reservations at the plans as well particularly because they have continuously been pushing for more restrictions on the Chinese company. Just how soon the talks between the U.S. and China will result in a way out for ZTE remains to be seen.