Commerce Department on Tuesday granted a temporary reprieve to ZTE Corp. that allows China’s No. 2 telecommunications equipment maker to conduct business needed to maintain existing networks and equipment in the United States as it works toward the lifting of a U.S. sales ban.

The authorization from the U.S. Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Services, dated July 2, runs until Aug. 1.

ZTE and spokespeople for the U.S. Department of Commerce did not respond to requests for comment.

ZTE, which makes smartphones and networking gear, was forced to cease major operations in April after the United States slapped it with a supplier ban saying it broke an agreement to discipline executives who conspired to evade U.S. sanctions on Iran and North Korea.

The company had also agreed to pay a US$1 billion penalty and put US$400 million in an escrow account as part of the deal to resume business with U.S. suppliers — which provide almost a third of the components used in ZTE’s equipment.

The escrow agreement is still pending, according to a source. Until it is executed, ZTE cannot deposit the US$400 million in escrow necessary to get the ban lifted.

While the denial order is still in place, the authorization grants a waiver to some companies that do business with ZTE to do so for one month.

The waivers allow for a limited type of activity but does not authorize any new business.

The uncertainty over the ban amid intensifying U.S.-China trade tensions has hammered ZTE shares, which have cratered 60 percent since trading resumed last month following a two-month hiatus, wiping out more than US$11 billion of the company’s market valuation.

ZTE announced a new board last week in a radical management shakeup as part of a US$1.4 billion deal with the United States.

ZTE said in exchange filings late Tuesday that Xu Weiyan, a shareholders’ representative supervisor in the company’s supervisory committee, has resigned due to personal commitments with immediate effect and no longer holds any position in the company.

A source who saw an internal memo said seven others were removed.

As part of the deal to lift the supplier ban reached in June with U.S. authorities, ZTE had agreed to remove all members of its leadership at or above the senior vice president level, along with any executives associated with the wrongdoing within 30 days.(SD-Agencies)