US President Donald Trump said he is working with China to limit job losses at ZTE and help the Chinese company "get back in business, fast". His tweet follows a statement from ZTE that it has ceased all major operations due to the export ban on supplies from the US to the company.
Trump said he is working with Chinese President Xi Jinping to help ZTE. "Too many jobs in China lost. Commerce Department has been instructed to get it done!", Trump said in a tweet on 13 May.
The Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security imposed the seven-year ban on ZTE from working with US suppliers. The action was due to violations of a compliance agreement by the Chinese company, which it entered earlier with US officials after breaking US sanctions against Iran. ZTE has termed the ban unfair and said it's requested a stay or suspension of the action, while it presents more evidence to US officials of its case.
US-China trade talks
The Commerce Department did not comment following Trump's tweet, Bloomberg reports. The Chinese vice premier is expected to lead a delegation to Washington this week to discuss the broader trade issues with the US. US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin already visited China earlier without reaching a deal to reduce the tensions.
The Washington Post writes that the White House and senior Chinese officials are discussing a targeted economic deal that would relax the severe penalties on ZTE, in exchange for unspecified demands from President Trump, two people briefed on the discussions said. One person said that relief for ZTE could come in exchange for China agreeing to remove the recently imposed tariffs on US agriculture tariffs and implementing other non-tariff remedies.
According to the American paper, Chinese President Xi Jinping has been "irate" about the sanctions on ZTE, which employs around 80,000 people. His top economic adviser, Liu He, has told US negotiators that there is no chance of a trade deal without the US removing the seven-year ban on ZTE, one person familiar with the talks said. The law firm Hogan Lovells, which has represented ZTE, has also been asking people close to the administration for ways to alter the US position, according to a veteran lobbyist.
