In a weekend tweet, President Trump announced he was beginning negotiations to allow Chinese telecommunications giant ZTE to regain access to the U.S. market. The company had been hit with a U.S. export ban after violating trade embargoes with North Korea and Iran, and growing concerns in the intelligence community that its products posed a security risk for American consumers.
Said Alliance for American Manufacturing President Scott Paul:
“President Trump’s weekend comments regarding ZTE, the Chinese telecom firm barred from doing business in our nation for breaking U.S. law, are alarming.
“In the middle of a trade dispute, the president is publicly offering a major concession to China that could potentially harm national security. This is a company that has broken trade embargoes with Iran and North Korea, and generated legitimate security concerns. As recently as February the entire national security establishment has advised American consumers to avoid products made by this company because it considers them beholden to the Chinese government.
“Meanwhile, Beijing has yet to agree to end any unfair trade practice or make any meaningful reform. And Trump’s very capable trade team hasn’t made any discernible progress on the myriad trade irritants that are costing America jobs. Trump’s tweet on ZTE is indefensible.”