ZTE and the US government took their first steps towards lifting a seven-year ban on sales of US components to the China-headquartered vendor, Reuters reported.

Citing sources, the news agency stated ZTE and the US Department of Commerce (DoC) signed an agreement in principle to end the ban, but noted a DoC representative had also told it “no definitive agreement” had been reached by either party.

Tentative terms would see ZTE pay a fine of $1 billion and place $400 million in escrow. Reuters noted this would bring the total financial penalty to around $1.7 billion when including a $361 million payment ZTE made as part of a settlement deal agreed in 2017 (relating to allegations the vendor breached US trade sanctions covering Iran and North Korea).

A previous report by South China Morning Post explained ZTE recently took a number of steps in a bid to appease the US government. These included reprimanding 35 current and former employees involved in the original sanctions breach, working to recover bonuses from those who have left, and replacing a number of senior executives over the past two weeks.

US President Donald Trump last month ordered the DoC to overturn the ban on component shipments, and subsequently stated he had offered the vendor a deal designed to restart its business. In return, ZTE was required to pay a $1.3 billion fine, agree to purchase US equipment, overhaul its management team, and hire US-based compliance officers to monitor its operations.

However, Trump’s move faced resistance from US politicians, who could yet attempt to derail any process designed to get ZTE back on its feet.