Treasury Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin said Tuesday that any easing of sanctions on Chinese cellphone maker ZTE Corp. would heed national security concerns. The ban…
Treasury Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin said Tuesday that any easing of sanctions on Chinese cellphone maker ZTE Corp. would heed national security concerns.
The ban on ZTE has become snared in trade talks between the the Trump administration and Beijing, and alarms are being raised about ZTE ’s ability to breach U. S. national security by selling phones to Americans.
The Pentagon previously banned the phones on military bases because of the security concerns.
“Anything that they consider will take into account the very important national security issues, and those will be addressed,” Mr. Mnuchin said at a Senate subcommittee hearing.
He did not confirm that a move was underway to lift the ban.
President Trump this month orders a review of the ZTE ban in response to a personal request by Chinese President Xi Jinping. The ban would devastate ZTE, the second-largest manufacturer of cellphones in China, and potentially put all of its 70,000 employees out of work.
Mr. Mnuchin said the sanctions were not intended to bankrupt the Chinese firm, which depends on U. S. suppliers.
Reports that the deal was in the works prompted Senate Minority Leader Charles E.
