The Trump administration scrambled last week to keep lawmakers from undermining coming trade talks with China, pressing them not to block a deal to roll back penalties on Chinese telecommunications giant ZTE Corp.
President Donald Trump said he has put together a deal to help ZTE survive, despite a U.S. Commerce Department ruling that the company had failed to live up to the terms of an agreement over ZTE’s evasion of sanctions on sales to Iran and North Korea. On Friday evening, he lashed out at Democratic lawmakers who opposed his plan. “Dems do nothing…but complain and obstruct,” he tweeted.
Many lawmakers have resisted any move to help ZTE, which was forced to suspend operations after the Commerce Department banned U.S. suppliers in April from providing it with key components to its business as a punitive measure. Beijing has made the resolution of the issue a top agenda item in negotiations.
Amid the controversy, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross is preparing to lead an interagency delegation to Beijing, starting June 2. There, he will confer with China’s chief economic envoy, Liu He. The two men talked this week and set up the session. The high-profile assignment for Mr. Ross marks his re-emergence as a major player in U.S.-China economic relations, after being sidelined for about a year.
The ZTE issue is bound to be on the agenda for the coming talks, unless it is settled before Mr. Ross and the delegation arrive in Beijing.
Mr. Ross finalized his plans for his trade mission to Beijing on Thursday. Treasury Undersecretary David Malpass is scheduled to be part of the delegation, as are representatives from other agencies. They will focus on boosting U.S. exports to China—part of the U.S. demand that Beijing reduce the vast U.S. trade deficit with the country by $200 billion by 2020.
