The US Commerce Department has granted ZTE Corp, China's No. 2 telecommunications equipment maker, the authority to engage in commercial transactions needed to maintain existing networks and equipment in the United States as it works toward the lifting of a US sales ban.
The authorization from the US Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Services, dated July 2 and which was seen by Reuters, runs until Aug. 1.
ZTE and spokespeople for the US Department of Commerce did not respond to requests for comment.
ZTE was forced to cease major operations in April after the United States slapped it with a supplier ban saying it broke an agreement to discipline executives who conspired to evade US sanctions on Iran and North Korea.
The company had also agreed to pay a $1 billion penalty and put $400 million in an escrow account as part of the deal to resume business with US suppliers - which provide almost a third of the components used in ZTE's equipment.
The escrow agreement is still pending, according to a source. Until it is executed, ZTE cannot deposit the $400 million in escrow necessary to get the ban lifted.
Last month, a Commerce Department official told Reuters that ZTE was expected to deposit the $400 million in an escrow account in the "next couple of days," saying that was the last step before the ban could be lifted.
The uncertainty over the ban amid intensifying US-China trade tensions has hammered ZTE shares, which have cratered 60 percent since trading resumed last month following a two-month hiatus, wiping out more than $11 billion of the company's market valuation.
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