https://techcrunch.com/2018/06/07/zte-fined-1-billion/ > After much negotiation with the Trump Administration, Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross confirmed this morning that ZTE, the Chinese telecommunications giant, has agreed to a $1 billion fine. That penalty was assessed following an investigation showing that ZTE had violated U.S. sanctions and had provided technology to Iran and North Korea. Ross made the comments on CNBC’s morning show Squawk Box. > This was an incredible scare for ZTE. The Trump administration had previously announced that it was banning U.S. companies from selling ZTE components for seven years, components critical to its entire product line. That decision was expected to kill the company, which employees tens of thousands of Chinese workers and is worth billions of dollars in market cap.