China and the U.S. have agreed to a deal with the aim of saving Chinese telecom company ZTE. This also marks the two countries on the way to resolving their trade dispute.
People familiar with the matter couldn’t disclose details of the deal. After its completion, the Trump administration will remove the ban on US companies selling to ZTE.
This ZTE ban resolution has been one of the much-discussed topics for a month now, with the result being the telecom giant ZTE going out of business. The deal entails the company bringing major changes in its management and board seats and possibly paying significant fines.
As a part of the negotiations, Beijing offered to remove taxes on billions of dollars of American farm products. However, the White House didn’t offer anything from their end in return. They ensured that the negotiations were rather a part of a law enforcement matter than any bargaining venture.
According to the people familiar with the deal, talks are going on, and the deal may still go south for both ends.
A tweet from President Trump came up after the ban was established that said that he and Chinese President Xi Jinping are collaborating to help ZTE get back on its feet again. This tweet tempted a backlash that the Trump administration no longer wishes to punish ZTE for the violations.
They never intended to make ZTE go out of business. He went forward and defended Trump’s decision to help the company on President Xi’s request. – Steven Mnuchin, US Treasury Secretary.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi is coming down to Washington this week to continue talks regarding ZTE. Similarly, US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, who is involved in overseeing the ZTE case, will visit Beijing next week.
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