Monday, March 7, 2016

U.S. Dept. of Commerce Ruling Hits ZTE and Suppliers

The U.S. Department of Commerce has added ZTE to the list of entities involved in "activities contrary to the national security or foreign policy interests of the United States."


The Export Administration Regulations (EAR) listing, which limits the availability of most license exceptions on U.S. technology sales to ZTE, was driven by a finding that ZTE willingly resold restricted U.S. technology products to Iran during the period of economic sanctions,

The move could block U.S. semiconductor companies from selling to ZTE, potentially impacting a wide range of networking gear and mobile devices.

ZTE said it is working expeditiously towards resolution of this issue and that it is fully committed to compliance with the laws and regulations of the jurisdictions in which it operates.

https://s3.amazonaws.com/public-inspection.federalregister.gov/2016-05104.pdf


FBI Opens Criminal Investigation into ZTE Shipments to Iran

The FBI has opened a criminal investigation into whether ZTE shipped U.S.-made networking components and surveillance equipment to Iran.  According to various news sources, including Reuters, The Washington Post and The Smoking Gun, various documents have emerged, including a shipping manifest, related to a $130 million sales contract between ZTE and the Telecommunications Company of Iran.  Equipment reportedly includes systems from Cisco, Dell, Hewlett-Packard, Juniper, Microsoft, Oracle and Symantec.
http://www.thesmokinggun.com/documents/fbi-probes-zte-iran-deal-645912
http://www.washingtonpost.com/