ZTE objectively got punished with a lot less than what was meant. They got away with a lot, while the US chickened out. And EU companies will lose a lot more than a billion (caused by the US breaking an international treaty).
The US did not break an international treaty. It was a "deal" from Obama, which he never put in front of the Senate to actually become an international treaty... Likely because the Senate would not have confirmed it as it was.
