U.S. Senate votes to reinstate sales ban on ZTE

Back in April, the United States Department of Commerce hit Chinese smartphone manufacturer ZTE with a sales ban that made it impossible for U.S. companies like Qualcomm to ship products to ZTE.

That eventually led ZTE from ceasing its main business operations soon after. However, despite the U.S. House Commission voting to uphold the ban on ZTE, the U.S. and Chinese governments worked out a deal to get ZTE back into business. But the bumpy road is far from over.

The United States Senate has passed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that includes language to specifically reinstate the sales ban on ZTE. The bill is primarily designed to be a funding bill for the U.S. military, but the specifics for ZTE’s ban are very clear.

Spearheading that effort was a bipartisan effort from Senators Marco Rubio (R-FL), Tom Cotton (R-AR), Chuck Schumer (D-NY), and Chris Van Hollen (D-MD). In a prepared statement, here’s what they had to say:

““We’re heartened that both parties made it clear that protecting American jobs and national security must come first when making deals with countries like China, which has a history of having little regard for either. It is vital that our colleagues in the House keep this bipartisan provision in the bill as it heads towards a conference.“

There are still several steps ahead. First, this latest proposal will need to go into committee, where discussions will be held over the differences between this bill and the one that passed through the House of Representatives a month ago. Depending on how all that goes, this bill may still end up on the desk of President Donald Trump, where he would have the option to approve the bill or veto it.

ZTE’s troublesome year is far from over, it seems.

Sources: CNBC, Senator Marco Rubio

source: androidandme