Democratic and GOP senators warn Trump against lifting sanctions on Chinese company ZTE By ALI ROGIN May 15, 2018, 7:17 PM ET
Senators on both sides of the aisle are urging President Donald Trump not to go easy on Chinese telecom company ZTE after friendly tweets over the past few days suggested he’s willing to lift sanctions on the firm.
A group of 32 Senate Democrats urged Trump Tuesday to maintain a seven-year ban on ZTE’s purchase of American-made components critical to the company’s production – a penalty put in place after the company sold products to Iran and North Korea and then failed to penalize officials as it had told the U.S. it would.
“America’s national security must not be used as a bargaining chip in trade negotiations,” the senators wrote in a letter.
But in a series of tweets, Trump suggested exactly that: ZTE’s status with the U.S. is, in fact, part of larger economic talks. Several outlets reported Tuesday that the U.S. is discussing lifting the ZTE penalties to avoid agricultural sanctions China is preparing to impose on the U.S.
ZTE, the large Chinese phone company, buys a big percentage of individual parts from U.S. companies. This is also reflective of the larger trade deal we are negotiating with China and my personal relationship with President Xi.
President Xi of China, and I, are working together to give massive Chinese phone company, ZTE, a way to get back into business, fast. Too many jobs in China lost. Commerce Department has been instructed to get it done!
Later Sunday, however, the White House walked back that directive to the Commerce Department, saying in a statement, “President Trump expects Secretary Ross to exercise his independent judgment, consistent with applicable laws and regulations, to resolve the regulatory action involving ZTE based on its facts.”
In addition to the 32 Senate Democrats who penned the letter, Republicans are also concerned that Trump is giving away too much.
Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., who with Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., has written a bill banning the U.S. government from contracting with ZTE or another China telecom, Huawei, used Trump’s preferred mode of communication to criticize Trump’s stated interest in easing penalties on ZTE.
#China intends to dominate the key industries of the 21st Century not through out innovating us, but by stealing our intellectual property & exploiting our open economy while keeping their own closed. Why are we helping them achieve this by making a terrible deal on ZTE?
Later Tuesday, Rubio went a step farther, delivering an address on the Senate floor criticizing the Trump administration's apparent thaw towards ZTE. He said lifting ZTE penalties in exchange for China lifting agricultural sanctions would give the impression that farmers in the U.S. had done something wrong.
He also pointed a finger at someone in the Trump administration who is giving the president bad advice.
"I know that's not where his instincts are," Rubio said, referring to Trump. "But someone's getting to him, I don't know if it's from Treasury or where it is, and basically telling him that now's the time to cut a deal. It's the wrong time to cut a deal, and this would be a terrible deal."
Earlier this month, the Pentagon banned the two Chinese firms from selling products in retail stores on military bases, over fears that they might be using devices to steal U.S. intelligence and intellectual property.
Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., wondered on Twitter Tuesday whether there was a connection between a Trump Organization project in Indonesia, which is anticipating a $500 million loan from the Chinese government, and Trump’s new warmth towards ZTE.
In an interview with ABC, Wyden stressed that the link between the ZTE softening and the Trump Organization deal was only “possible.” Despite concern from both sides of the aisle about possible concessions to ZTE, the issue did not come up during Trump’s meeting with Senate Republicans on Tuesday.
But Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said he does want to get more information from the White House about the potential arrangement.
“I'm concerned about that. I'm glad that China's helping us but allowing them to have sort of an entree in our technological world like this bothers me,” Graham said.
The company needs to be punished, not used as a bargaining chip.
By The Editors 2018年5月16日 GMT-7 上午11:09
President Donald Trump has indicated, via Twitter, that he’s prepared to make an enormous concession to smooth trade talks with China, offering upfront to ease sanctions on ZTE Corp., the country’s second-largest telecom equipment maker. But ZTE is being punished for deliberately violating U.S. sanctions — twice. The company’s punishment needs to be enforced, not used as a bargaining chip. If Trump goes ahead anyway, he stands to have a very hard time making sure the U.S. gets its money’s worth.
The American case against ZTE isn’t in dispute. The company was singled out in 2016 for doing business with Iran in violation of U.S. sanctions. A $1.2 billion settlement last year was supposed to include internal punishment for the ZTE officials involved. Instead, according to the U.S. Commerce Department, the firm paid those executives bonuses. The U.S. then banned ZTE from buying irreplaceable U.S. components for seven years, effectively killing its business.
It is possible to conceive of different punishments for ZTE that would cause the company material pain without destroying its ability to operate. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross is said to be exploring such options.
But if Trump were to soften the blow now, the cost to U.S. credibility would be substantial, weakening the effect of its sanctions on Iran, North Korea and others. That cost would hardly be reduced if the U.S. were able to improve its position in trade talks with China. After all, the greatest threat the U.S. has to address in those talks is China’s use of unfair means to pursue technological superiority over the U.S. If anything, the ZTE case has made Chinese officials more determined to achieve self-sufficiency in key high-tech sectors. Lightening ZTE’s punishment would only encourage Chinese companies to continue cheating, and not only on sanctions.
Trump’s injudicious tweeting may have already diminished U.S. bargaining power. But it’s not too late to take ZTE off the table.
To contact the senior editor responsible for Bloomberg View’s editorials: David Shipley at [email protected] .
ABCNews:
Democratic and GOP senators warn Trump against lifting sanctions on Chinese company ZTE By ALI ROGIN May 15, 2018, 7:17 PM ETSenators on both sides of the aisle are urging President Donald Trump not to go easy on Chinese telecom company ZTE after friendly tweets over the past few days suggested he’s willing to lift sanctions on the firm.
A group of 32 Senate Democrats urged Trump Tuesday to maintain a seven-year ban on ZTE’s purchase of American-made components critical to the company’s production – a penalty put in place after the company sold products to Iran and North Korea and then failed to penalize officials as it had told the U.S. it would.
“America’s national security must not be used as a bargaining chip in trade negotiations,” the senators wrote in a letter.
But in a series of tweets, Trump suggested exactly that: ZTE’s status with the U.S. is, in fact, part of larger economic talks. Several outlets reported Tuesday that the U.S. is discussing lifting the ZTE penalties to avoid agricultural sanctions China is preparing to impose on the U.S.
Twitter Ads info and privacyTwo days ago Trump raised alarms by saying he was explicitly trying to help ZTE get back into business with the U.S.
Twitter Ads info and privacyLater Sunday, however, the White House walked back that directive to the Commerce Department, saying in a statement, “President Trump expects Secretary Ross to exercise his independent judgment, consistent with applicable laws and regulations, to resolve the regulatory action involving ZTE based on its facts.”
In addition to the 32 Senate Democrats who penned the letter, Republicans are also concerned that Trump is giving away too much.
Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., who with Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., has written a bill banning the U.S. government from contracting with ZTE or another China telecom, Huawei, used Trump’s preferred mode of communication to criticize Trump’s stated interest in easing penalties on ZTE.
“
Twitter Ads info and privacyLater Tuesday, Rubio went a step farther, delivering an address on the Senate floor criticizing the Trump administration's apparent thaw towards ZTE. He said lifting ZTE penalties in exchange for China lifting agricultural sanctions would give the impression that farmers in the U.S. had done something wrong.
He also pointed a finger at someone in the Trump administration who is giving the president bad advice.
"I know that's not where his instincts are," Rubio said, referring to Trump. "But someone's getting to him, I don't know if it's from Treasury or where it is, and basically telling him that now's the time to cut a deal. It's the wrong time to cut a deal, and this would be a terrible deal."
Earlier this month, the Pentagon banned the two Chinese firms from selling products in retail stores on military bases, over fears that they might be using devices to steal U.S. intelligence and intellectual property.
Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., wondered on Twitter Tuesday whether there was a connection between a Trump Organization project in Indonesia, which is anticipating a $500 million loan from the Chinese government, and Trump’s new warmth towards ZTE.
Twitter Ads info and privacyIn an interview with ABC, Wyden stressed that the link between the ZTE softening and the Trump Organization deal was only “possible.” Despite concern from both sides of the aisle about possible concessions to ZTE, the issue did not come up during Trump’s meeting with Senate Republicans on Tuesday.
But Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said he does want to get more information from the White House about the potential arrangement.
“I'm concerned about that. I'm glad that China's helping us but allowing them to have sort of an entree in our technological world like this bothers me,” Graham said.
https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/democratic-gop-senators-warn-trump-lifting-sanctions-chinese/story?id=55175361
RFI:
特朗普改口 没说过要救中兴 作者 安德烈发表时间 16-05-2018 更改时间 16-05-2018 发表时间 21:36特朗普周日发推承诺协助中兴恢复营运，似乎为周四开启的第二轮中美贸易谈判做了一个光明的铺垫。但是，特朗普周三发推改口：否认美国在惩罚中兴的问题上有所后退。这是否预示着刘鹤率领的中国贸易谈判团难以达致期待的成果？正在法国访问的中国外长王毅则揭露美国贸易单边主义“不符合历史潮流”。
中兴因违背美国伊朗禁令而遭致美方全面封杀，美国商务部禁止美国企业七年内向中兴提供所有零部件，包括中兴不可或缺的芯片。此令一出，中兴生产线陷入停顿。特朗普周日发推要拯救中兴，使这家频临灭亡、多达近八万名员工的中国高科技产业顿时升起了希望。也驱散了第一轮中美北京贸易谈判失败的阴影，给第二轮华盛顿谈判带来了相对乐观的气氛。
不过，特朗普有意对中兴通讯集团网开一面，引发美国国会议员反弹，也引起美国舆论的质疑。
特朗普周三再发一推，“在中兴一事上，什么都没有发生”。特朗普明明在周日发出的推上希望尽快找到一个“让中兴重新出发的办法”。他并且写到，美国商务部已接到设法完成这一使命的命令。
周三，特朗普则表示，“中国已知悉我们的要求。不存在任何往后退的可能，如同媒体所喜欢的或者一些人宁愿相信的那样。谈判甚至还没有开始!”
特朗普这里所指的美国提交中方的要求，就是美方第一轮谈判向中方开出的清单：包括2020年6月1日前减少2000亿美元贸易逆差，保护知识产权，限制中国对美国敏感技术投资；中方相应的应向美方开放金融、制造业、服务业、互联网，消除非关税贸易壁垒，中方不得报复美国农副产品等等。
特朗普周日发出要帮助中兴尽快取消制裁的推特后，美国政府多位部长向他表示，要取消中兴的制裁十分困难。
特朗普的新表态也为周四开启的新一轮谈判笼罩上一层阴影。以中国副总理刘鹤为团长的代表团已经抵达华盛顿，启动第二轮贸易谈判。第一轮北京谈判无果而终，第二轮结果如何？刘鹤团队行前日程发生再三调整，被指中方犹疑不定，缺乏把握。刘鹤终于带团来到华盛顿，又有分析指，中方可能已同意对美方做出重大让步，并取消对美国农副产品的报复措施，美方也因此答应取消对中兴的制裁，因此，第二轮谈判胜算的可能性比较大。
从特朗普改口来看，现在难以预期美中第二轮贸易谈判会否取得进展。
另外，中国外长王毅周三在巴黎与法国外长勒德里昂会谈时，揭露美国在贸易政策上实施单边主义，他称“贸易单边主义不符合历史潮流，必须以世贸组织的规则为基础来维护国际自由贸易。”
http://cn.rfi.fr/20180516-%E7%89%B9%E6%9C%97%E6%99%AE%E6%94%B9%E5%8F%A3-%E6%B2%A1%E8%AF%B4%E8%BF%87%E8%A6%81%E6%95%91%E4%B8%AD%E5%85%B4/
Editorial Board
Keep ZTE Out of China Trade TalksThe company needs to be punished, not used as a bargaining chip.
By The Editors 2018年5月16日 GMT-7 上午11:09President Donald Trump has indicated, via Twitter, that he’s prepared to make an enormous concession to smooth trade talks with China, offering upfront to ease sanctions on ZTE Corp., the country’s second-largest telecom equipment maker. But ZTE is being punished for deliberately violating U.S. sanctions — twice. The company’s punishment needs to be enforced, not used as a bargaining chip. If Trump goes ahead anyway, he stands to have a very hard time making sure the U.S. gets its money’s worth.
The American case against ZTE isn’t in dispute. The company was singled out in 2016 for doing business with Iran in violation of U.S. sanctions. A $1.2 billion settlement last year was supposed to include internal punishment for the ZTE officials involved. Instead, according to the U.S. Commerce Department, the firm paid those executives bonuses. The U.S. then banned ZTE from buying irreplaceable U.S. components for seven years, effectively killing its business.
It is possible to conceive of different punishments for ZTE that would cause the company material pain without destroying its ability to operate. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross is said to be exploring such options.
But if Trump were to soften the blow now, the cost to U.S. credibility would be substantial, weakening the effect of its sanctions on Iran, North Korea and others. That cost would hardly be reduced if the U.S. were able to improve its position in trade talks with China. After all, the greatest threat the U.S. has to address in those talks is China’s use of unfair means to pursue technological superiority over the U.S. If anything, the ZTE case has made Chinese officials more determined to achieve self-sufficiency in key high-tech sectors. Lightening ZTE’s punishment would only encourage Chinese companies to continue cheating, and not only on sanctions.Trump’s injudicious tweeting may have already diminished U.S. bargaining power. But it’s not too late to take ZTE off the table.
To contact the senior editor responsible for Bloomberg View’s editorials: David Shipley at [email protected] .
https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2018-05-16/u-s-should-keep-zte-penalty-out-of-china-trade-talks
而且从性质上讲，制裁中兴不是贸易问题，而是涉及国家安全的执法问题。行政干预司法，这在中国那种党大于法皇上说了算的国家里根本不算事，在美国就很难办。