ZTE is seemingly in the clear in regards to the possibility of the Commerce Department’s crippling denial order being reinstated by Capitol Hill shortly after being revoked as stateside lawmakers removed a threatening measure from this year’s iteration of the United States defense bill, Reuters reports, citing a person close to the Congress. The Senate previously approved the amendment with a supermajority vote, aiming to inhibit President Trump’s ability to oppose the reversal on the matter should the Congress move forward with the idea of enacting additional punishment for the Chinese firm for violating trade sanctions placed on Iran and North Korea, then violating the settlement meant to conclude the first instance of transgressions.
The amendment authored by Democrat Chris Van Hollen received strong bipartisan support in the Senate, having been attached to the National Defense Authorization Act by the parliament’s upper house. The move was interpreted as a major statement of intent on the lawmakers’ part as the must-pass annual legislation would have shut down the government if not enacted in a timely manner. The effort that would have likely reinstated the seven-year denial order preventing ZTE from purchasing American technologies has now been stopped in the house, with Senator Van Hollen confirming the development in a statement given to Reuters, having accused the Republican majority and President Trump of “bowing to Beijing” instead of acting against a state-owned Chinese firm that repeatedly demonstrated disregard for U.S. institutions and poses a national security risk. ZTE previously denied both notions, describing the broken settlement as an oversight and not an intentional act of defiance while deeming the accusations of being a risk to the U.S. baseless.
ZTE has only resumed normal operations last Friday, shortly after Washington started a full-blown trade war against China that already resulted in both sides imposing tariffs on $36 billion worth of each other’s goods and may now lead to another tariff wave imposing burdens on $200 billion in imports on both sides. ZTE itself has a long road to recovery and is expected to seek additional crediting lines in the coming weeks as the company is likely to lose billions of dollars due to the ordeal which started after the Commerce Department hit it with the aforementioned denial order in April. Besides reduced revenue, the problematic stateside episode is also expected to cause a significant loss of future business, many industry watchers believe.