美商务部与中兴达成和解协议：支付10亿美元罚款

The agreement requires ZTE to pay a $1 billion fine and allow U.S. enforcement officers inside the Chinese company to monitor its actions, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said Thursday. In return, ZTE can resume buying components from U.S. suppliers that it needs to make smartphones and build telecoms networks.

美国商务部部长罗斯(Wilbur Ross)周四表示，美国和中国已达成协议，协议将令中兴通讯股份有限公司(ZTE Co., 000063.SZ, 简称：中兴通讯)得以继续运营，但条件是该公司须支付10亿美元罚款，且美国执法人员将被派驻该公司内部以监督其行为。

Speaking on CNBC, Mr. Ross said ZTE must change its management and its board, and put $400 million in escrow, which it will forfeit if it violates the agreement. In mid-April, the U.S. banned exports to ZTE as punishment for the Chinese company breaking the terms of a settlement to resolve its sanctions-busting sales to North Korea and Iran. “We still retain the power to shut them down again,” Mr. Ross said.

罗斯在接受CNBC采访时称，中兴通讯必须更换管理层和董事会，支付罚款，同时将4亿美元交付第三方托管，如果该公司违反美国对朝鲜和伊朗的制裁，则这笔钱将被没收。罗斯还说，如果美国发现中兴通讯不遵守和解条款，仍保留再次动用相应措施的权力。

A ZTE spokeswoman didn’t respond to a request for comment.

中兴发言人没有回复记者的置评请求。

Although Mr. Ross said that the ZTE deal was simply an enforcement action, it has a broader impact. The company’s fate has become wrapped up in negotiations over trade differences between the world’s two largest economies. It is far from clear that the agreement will forestall the U.S. from implementing tariffs on $50 billion of Chinese goods after June 15, as threatened.

罗斯表示，有关中兴通讯的协议虽然只是一次执法行动，但其影响巨大。在全球最大的两个经济体之间的贸易差异谈判中，该公司的命运似乎命悬一线。目前还不清楚协议是否会阻止美国像其威胁的那样，在6月15日之后评估对500亿美元中国商品征收关税的举措。

As ZTE’s fate hung in the balance, Chinese regulators had until recently held off approving the proposed acquisition by U.S. chip maker Qualcomm Inc. of Dutch company NXP Semiconductors . China will sign off on the deal soon, a person with knowledge of the situation said. In the past few days, Chinese regulators have been working with Qualcomm’s legal team on the “technical details” required for the approval, the person said.

由于中兴前途未卜，中国监管机构直到最近才批准美国芯片制造商高通公司(Qualcomm Inc.)收购荷兰公司NXP semiconductor的计划。一位知情人士表示，中国将很快签署这项协议。这位人士说，过去几天，中国监管机构一直在与高通的法律团队就审批所需的“技术细节”进行协商。

The ZTE deal is likely to inflame tensions in Congress, where a bipartisan group of lawmakers has strongly opposed any deal, with some questioning why the Trump administration is throwing a lifeline to a Chinese firm that violated U.S. sanctions. Others have criticized the administration for effectively turning ZTE into a bargaining chip in broader U.S.-China trade negotiations.

中兴通讯的交易可能会加剧美国国会的紧张气氛。美国国会的一个两党议员团体强烈反对任何协议，一些人质疑为什么特朗普政府要向一家违反美国制裁的中国公司抛出救生索。其他人则批评美国政府有效地将中兴一个简单公司卷入中美贸易谈判成为成就美国更广泛地区受益的砝码。

Shortly after the deal was announced, Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon, the top Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, called the deal a “loser.”

协议宣布后不久，俄勒冈州民主党参议员罗恩.怀登(Ron Wyden)称该协议是“输家”。