US bans US companies from supplying ZTE any longer

US companies are banned from supplying components to ZTE for seven years, the US government has ruled. At the same time, the British NCSC warns of security risks when using equipment from the Chinese manufacturer.

The ban on the supply to ZTE by American companies is a punitive measure, because the Chinese group has not fulfilled agreements, Reuters reports. ZTE admitted last year that it supplied products to Iran, thus circumventing US sanctions. The company paid a $980 million fine and promised to fire four executives and disciplinary action against 35 others. The latter has not happened, ZTE admitted in March. According to the US, statements from ZTE can no longer be trusted.

Also on Monday, Britain’s National Cyber ​​Security Centre, part of intelligence agency GCHQ, warned that national security would be jeopardized if ZTE network equipment was widely used in the country. That writes the Financial Times. The NCSC points out that the Chinese government is gaining influence among companies and that the United Kingdom’s telecom industry already uses a lot of Huawei equipment. In addition, using ZTE equipment on a large scale would have a long-term negative effect on the security of the UK. US intelligence agencies previously warned against the use of ZTE and Huawei equipment because of the security risks.