Democracy Dies in Darkness Sections Home Try 1 month for $1 Username Sign In Account Profile Newsletters & Alerts Gift Subscriptions Contact Us Help Desk Subscribe Account Profile Newsletters & Alerts Gift Subscriptions Contact Us Help Desk Accessibility for screenreader The Switch by Hamza Shaban by Hamza Shaban Email the author May 10 Email the author A salesman stands at a counter selling cellphones produced by ZTE at an appliance store in 2012 in China. (Chinatopix/AP) ZTE, one of China’s leading technology companies, announced recently that it will end “major operating activities” after the U.S. government barred American firms from doing business with the telecom equipment maker. The announcement by the fourth-largest Chinese smartphone maker comes amid an escalating trade battle between the United States and China. Last month, the Commerce Department barred U.S. firms from exporting parts to the Chinese smartphone company for seven years, saying that ZTE had violated a settlement of criminal and civil charges for making illegal shipments to North Korea and Iran. Starved of crucial American microchips, the company was left teetering. ZTE said in an announcement Wednesday that “the major operating activities of the company have ceased.” ZTE added that the company continues to communicate with the U.S. government with the goal of modifying or reversing the order. But investors were left without a definitive road map of the company’s future, according to the statement. ZTE did not respond to requests for comment. The suspension of ZTE’s operations follows several recent actions by the U.S. government that hindered the company’s business prospects…. [Read full story]
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