ZTE protests US penalty, says it is seeking solution
BEIJING (AP) — ZTE Corp., one of China's biggest tech companies, warned Friday that a ban on access to U.S. technology threatens the company's survival and said it is looking for a legal solution.
Washington imposed the ban Monday in a case involving exports of telecoms equipment to Iran and North Korea. U.S. companies are barred from selling technology to state-owned ZTE for seven years.
That could handicap ZTE's smartphone business, which uses Google Inc.'s Android system, and crimp a multibillion-dollar revenue flow to companies such as Qualcomm Inc. that supply chips, software and other technology.
ZTE pleaded guilty in March 2017 and agreed to pay a $1.