Commerce Sec Wilbur Ross: We’re exploring ‘alternative remedies’ for ZTE ban

Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said that the Trump administration is open to changing its ban on US companies buying and selling products from Chinese phone-maker ZTE, a day after President Donald Trump hinted at a surprising reversal. “ZTE did do some inappropriate things. They’ve admitted to that,” Sec Ross said. “The question is: Are there alternative remedies to the one that we had originally put forward? And that’s the area we will be exploring very, very promptly.”

Ross’s Commerce Department levied a harsh penalty against the electronics company in April 2018, imposing a seven-year ban on American companies selling or purchasing its products. The US had reached an agreement with ZTE in March 2017 that included a $1.19 billion fine, but it added the new ban because it said the company broke the agreement by failing to punish top managers.