Trump, China working to boost Chinese telecom giant

President Trump said on Sunday that he is working with Chinese President Xi Jinping to ensure that telecommunications equipment-maker ZTE can be allowed to do business with the U.S. again.

Trump said via Twitter that too many jobs in China were lost because of ZTE’s issues, concluding that he has instructed the Commerce Department to “get it done.”

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!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 13, 2018

The telecom giant was slapped with an export ban from the Commerce Department last month after the U.S. said it violated the terms of a deal by evading sanctions against Iran and North Korea.

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ZTE, the fourth largest mobile phone vendor in the U.S., said it has submitted a formal request to the Commerce Department to stay the order that prevents American suppliers from selling to the company.

The company believes the ban is a disproportionate penalty, according to a source who spoke with The Wall Street Journal.

The ban reportedly has been debilitating to ZTE because it relies on U.S. companies for a number of supplies that are critical to its devices.

Later on Sunday afternoon Trump tweeted that the U.S. and China are “working well on trade” but argued that past negotiations favored China. However, he reassured people that “it will all work out.” 

China and the United States are working well together on trade, but past negotiations have been so one sided in favor of China, for so many years, that it is hard for them to make a deal that benefits both countries. But be cool, it will all work out!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 13, 2018

The United Kingdom also told its phone carriers to avoid ZTE’s equipment and devices out of concerns that they could be used to help the Chinese government infiltrate or compromise the U.K.’s telecommunication infrastructure.

Updated at 3:36 p.m.