As part of a settlement for breaking sanctions and selling electronics to Iran
and North Korea, ZTE agreed to plead guilty and pay $1.19 billion in fines, the United States Department of Commerce said in an announcement.
Although China and the United States have occasionally traded barbs over technology policy
and cyberattacks, the actions against ZTE by the United States government have not had a major impact on the relationship of the two countries, though Beijing could respond harshly to the new fine.
In addition to ZTE, the Commerce Department is also investigating the company’s larger Chinese rival, Huawei, for violating United States sanctions.
One, from 2011 and signed by several senior ZTE executives, detailed how the company had “ongoing projects in all five major embargoed countries — Iran, Sudan, North Korea, Syria
and Cuba.” Another document laid out in a complex flow chart a method for circumventing United States export controls.
