ZTE is not necessarily a well-known brand in the U.S., but their devices do have a small presence here and have steadily been gaining more traction with more recent device launches, like the ZTE Axon for example. Beyond exporting devices and other products to the U.S., ZTE also has products and supplies exported to them from the U.S., but according to a recent report U.S. exports to ZTE in China are set to face restrictions come Tuesday, due to potential violations ZTE has made on U.S. export regulations that are in place for exporting products to Iran.
The restrictions are to be imposed on U.S.-made products, but aren’t just limited to products that ship out from the U.S., and will also apply to U.S.-made products that are shipped out from other countries. This means that any company globally that wishes to export U.S. produced and manufactured products to ZTE in China, will have to first apply for an export license with the U.S. Commerce Department. However, it’s being said that those applications have a high likelihood of being denied, which is going to make it all the more challenging for ZTE to have U.S.-made products imported from the U.S. or elsewhere. It’s also not known whether or not any actions besides the export restrictions will be taken against ZTE at this time, as there are no official statements from ZTE or the U.S. Commerce Department.
Some of the products that were being exported out from the U.S. to ZTE come from some of the tech industry’s biggest corporations like Microsoft and IBM, as well as Oracle and Dell. With the restrictions in place, it’s said to be unclear as to whether or not the above listed companies as well as any other U.S. companies which export to ZTE will continue to do so. While it’s unclear how long these restrictions will last, it’s also unclear as to whether this will have any affect on ZTE products being exported out of China into the U.S., although there was no menton about those details from the U.S. Commerce Department in the report.