U.S. grants China's ZTE temporary reprieve on export curbs

By Joel Schectman WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. government will give Chinese telecom equipment and smartphone maker ZTE Corp a three-month reprieve on tough export restrictions it imposed earlier this month, the Commerce Department said on Tuesday. The department on March 8 imposed some of the toughest-everU.S. export restrictions on ZTE for allegedly breaking U.S. sanctions against Iran. Experts had said the restrictions would have caused disruption across ZTE's sprawling global supply chain.