Hasan Chowdhury
It was a drastic move which offered a lesson on the risks of using trade as a diplomatic weapon.When the Trump administration announced a seven-year ban last year on the purchase of advanced US technology by ZTE, China’s second biggest telecoms firm, the company was left virtually paralysed.
With over 70,000 staff and revenues of $16bn per year, ZTE factories were left unable to manufacture a host of products for export - from network gear to smartphones.