Even Republicans aren't sold on President Trump's surprise offer to remove sanctions from Chinese phone maker
Chinese phone maker ZTE may emerge as a decisive piece in the tense game of chess between the U. S. and China on trade.
The sides are reportedly zeroing in on an agreement that would remove U. S. sanctions on the Chinese telecommunications giant, which is at risk of shutting down after the Trump administration barred domestic components manufacturers from selling to the company because it violated sanctions on doing business with Iran and North Korea. President Trump surprised observers on Sunday when he opened the door to a deal by pledging to reverse that ban, saying the sanctions destroyed too many Chinese jobs.
In return for rescuing ZTE, Mr. Trump may be hoping to persuade China to drop proposed tariffs on U. S. agricultural and other products. The prospect of a deal seemed to stem fears in soybean and other agricultural markets. Reuters reported China is “willing in principle” to import more U. S. agricultural products in return for easing penalties on ZTE.
Beijing’s chief economic negotiator, Vice-Premier Liu He, was headed to Washington on Tuesday for more talks with his U. S. counterparts.
Another factor that could help pick the lock on the trade negotiations is Mr. Trump’s relationship with Chinese president Xi Jinping, suggested White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow. He told Axios there’s a “little bit of a bromance” between the two, reiterating that the Trump administration wants to avoid a full-fledged trade war with China.
“The time is right for China to make changes they should have been making for the past 15-20 years,” Kudlow said. “Everyone around the world agrees with the president that China’s unfair and often illegal trade practices have to be changed… I call it a trade coalition of the willing.”
Mr. Trump’s move to rescue ZTE, even as a step toward winning concessions from China on other trade issues, has drawn fire both among Democrats and Republicans in Congress.
