Chinese regulators Thursday approved Qualcomm Technologies Inc.’s acquisition of NXP Semiconductors N.V., the last hurdle of nine the deal has jumped over, according to reports. Or did they?

The approval, as initially reported, came despite attempts by Congress to derail the Trump administration’s ZTE deal, the pair of deals seen by some as a quid pro quo between the two countries. But by Friday morning, a new report from Reuters indicated that approval was not yet a done deal.

Despite Qualcomm being an American company and NXP being Dutch, the acquisition needed regulatory approval on competition grounds in the nine countries the two companies operate. Both companies operate manufacturing plants within China’s borders.

According to the South China Morning Post, which broke the news, Chinese competitors of both companies had expressed concern that the combined entity would extend Qualcomm’s patent licensing business into areas such as mobile payments and autonomous driving.

Although the approval by China will be welcomed by the tech industry, Congress is continuing to attempt to block a deal that would allow ZTE Corp. to regain access to U.S. technology, including tech made by Qualcomm, following a ban imposed in April. The ban came after a ruling from the Department of Commerce that the company had breached a previous agreement in regard to the sale of the technology to countries such as Iran and North Korea.

Congress is said to vote on blocking the deal as part of the National Defense Authorization Act, a defense policy bill, in the coming days. The White House is not giving up on the deal, however, with reports that the administration is currently negotiating with Senate leaders on a comprise deal.

Of the two houses of Congress, there is also conflict over how a legislative ban would be applied. The Senate version of NDAA includes the ban and the House of Representatives’ version does not.

Reuters reported that Mac Thornberry, the Republican chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, has said that he would oppose anything in the NDAA not germane to the Defense Department if it threatened to delay swift passage of the $716 billion bill. Put more simply, he would oppose the inclusion of the ZTE ban as part of the bill.

Photo: GeorgHH/Wikimedia Commons