No agreement yet between US, China on ZTE: Trump aide

[WASHINGTON] The United States and China have not yet reached a deal on Chinese telecoms giant ZTE that would lift crippling sanctions against the company, top US economic advisor Larry Kudlow said Wednesday.

"No decision has been reached by both sides as of now," Mr Kudlow told reporters.

ZTE was fined US$1.2 billion in March 2017, but in April, Washington banned the sale of crucial US components to the firm after finding it had lied multiple times and failed to take action against employees responsible for sanctions violations.

Those measures had threatened to put ZTE out of business.

US media reported late last month that the US Commerce Department had brokered a new deal under which ZTE would pay a substantial fine, hire American compliance officers to be placed at the firm and make changes to its current management team.

Mr Trump appeared to confirm that a deal had been reached in a tweet on May 25, but subsequent broader US trade talks in Beijing on US tariffs on aluminum and steel ended inconclusively with no mention of the ZTE matter.

Democrats and some Republicans have vehemently opposed any deal on ZTE, which has been deemed a cybersecurity risk, but Mr Trump cited the potential loss of US jobs if ZTE is forced out of business.

AFP