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View Full Version : Rubio threatens 'veto-proof congressional action' to check Trump's move to save Chinese ZTE




enhanced_deficit
05-22-2018, 08:47 AM
This could be bad omen for anti-swamp GOP-Jarvanka wing neocons ahead of midterms while POTUS is being painted in media as 'part of swamp' and 'blinker' and there are rumors that "drain the swamp" slogan had been stolen by Dems recenty:



GOP Sen. Marco Rubio threatens 'veto-proof congressional action' to check Trump's move to save Chinese telecom company ZTE (https://www.cnbc.com/2018/05/22/marco-rubio-pushes-for-congressional-action-to-check-trumps-zte-deal.html)




Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., pushes for congressional action related to ZTE after the Trump administration reportedly reached the framework of a deal to revive the firm.
The Trump administration could lift a ban on U.S. companies selling to ZTE and instead push for fines and management changes, according to The Wall Street Journal.
It is unclear what legislation Rubio would pursue or whether Senate leaders Mitch McConnell and Chuck Schumer would support it.


Jacob Pramuk | @Jacobpramuk

Published 54 Mins Ago

https://fm.cnbc.com/applications/cnbc.com/resources/img/editorial/2017/12/15/104901207-GettyImages-854331630-marco-rubio.530x298.jpg?v=1513342179 (https://www.cnbc.com/2018/05/22/marco-rubio-pushes-for-congressional-action-to-check-trumps-zte-deal.html#) Getty Images
Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL)

Sen. Marco Rubio (https://www.cnbc.com/marco-rubio/) said Tuesday he would push for "veto-proof congressional action" to check the Trump administration's reported deal to save Chinese telecommunications company ZTE (https://www.cnbc.com/2018/05/22/marco-rubio-pushes-for-congressional-action-to-check-trumps-zte-deal.html).
Washington and Beijing have discussed the framework of a deal for the U.S. to lift the ban on American companies selling goods to the firm in favor of possible management changes and fines, according to The Wall Street Journal (https://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-china-agree-on-broad-outline-to-settle-zte-controversy-1526959695). China could also remove tariffs on billions of dollars of U.S. agricultural products, the newspaper reported.
Rubio, a Florida Republican, has consistently opposed Trump's push to save ZTE (https://www.cnbc.com/2018/05/14/marco-rubio-slams-trump-reversal-on-chinese-company-zte.html) in recent weeks. He has called the company's products a national security and surveillance risk.
In a tweet Tuesday, he said the deal would mean the Trump administration has "surrendered" to China and argued changes to the company board and a financial penalty will not stop "spying" and "stealing."
"But this is too important to be over. We will begin working on veto-proof congressional action," the senator wrote.
Rubio tweet: If this is true, then administration has surrendered to # Chinaon # ZTEMaking changes to their board & a fine won't stop them from spying & stealing from us. But this is too important to be over. We will begin working on veto-proof congressional action (https://twitter.com/marcorubio/status/998864161122717696)





U.S. accused of blinking on China trade standoff as N. Korea meeting looms

'China is winning the negotiations,' said one Republican senator.

by Martha C. White / May.21.2018

On Sunday, the Trump administration surprised the business world by announcing it would pull back on its plan to impose tariffs on Chinese goods. After many months of threats and tweets about China's unfair trading practices, suddenly the U.S. was "putting the trade war on hold," in the words of Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, and it was not clear what, if anything, China had to give up in return.
That led to charges that China had outmaneuvered President Donald Trump.
"I think this president has shown in a number of different issues that he wants a headline more than he actually wants to solve a problem," said Gabriel Horwitz, vice president for the economic program at Third Way.

https://www.nbcnews.com/business/business-news/u-s-blinks-china-trade-standoff-north-korea-meeting-looms-n876126







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https://cdn2.hubspot.net/hubfs/2221756/trump-zte-ban-schiff-response.png?t=1526591645297




Trump helps sanctioned Chinese phone maker after China delivers a big loan to a Trump project

Trump stands to gain from an Indonesian project that got a $500 million loan right before he flip-flopped on ZTE.

May 15, 2018, 3:00pm EDT

https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/9shBfV23QPAVFoQBAtbfg8LLmXI=/0x0:3000x2000/1200x800/filters:focal%281006x284:1486x764%29/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/59742767/871925570.jpg.0.jpg Thomas Peter-Pool/Getty Images Is the president of the United States revising American trade policy — and possibly jeopardizing national security — because his family received a large cash bribe from the Chinese government?
Under normal political circumstances, it would be an outrageous accusation to level. But under the political circumstances of 2018, there is suggestive evidence that it possibly happened —but the 24/7 din of controversy and scandal meansthat very little attention is being paid to the possibility. The constant tumult of the Trump Show — who’s leaking, who’s being mean to John McCain’s family, why is the president always lying about golfing, etc. — manages to crowd out not just big-picture policy coverage but also genuine malfeasance that has real, negative impacts on people’s lives.
“The controversies,” David Frum warned a week after Election Day 2016 (https://twitter.com/davidfrum/status/799979962224742400?lang=en), “will divert you from the scandals.”
And that’s what seems to be going on this week, when two below-the-radar stories — one about hotel financing in Indonesia and one about low-end smartphone sales in the United States — have a striking and potentially quite disturbing intersection. Here’s what we know so far.
ZTE and Lido City: a chronology

ZTE is a Chinese telecommunications equipment manufacturer that, among other things, manufactures Android smartphones, primarily on the cheaper, lower end of the market. Like most big Chinese companies, ZTE has various ties to the Chinese government, and there have long been questions about the security implications of relying on foreign firms with government links for sensitive communications roles. But separate from that longstanding controversy, ZTE had been in intense trouble lately for a largely unrelated issue pertaining to US sanctions policy.


Back in March 2017, ZTE was hit with a record $1.19 billion fine (https://www.pcmag.com/news/352232/zte-will-pay-record-fine-for-sales-to-iran-north-korea) for violating US law by selling technology products containing US components in North Korea and Iran. The fine set a record both because of the volume of ZTE’s illicit business and because ZTE was found to have tried to deceive US government officials and even its own accounting firm.
About a year later — on March 12, 2018 — the Trump administration prevented a Singaporean company called Broadcom from buying a US company called Qualcomm (https://www.cnbc.com/2018/03/13/trump-blocks-broadcoms-qualcomm-takeover-concerns-about-china-5g.html). Qualcomm makes chips that are used in many smartphones, and the US government said Broadcom’s links to the Chinese government made it too risky to allow the company to purchase a key player in a strategic industry.
Then on April 15, the Commerce Department hit ZTE again (https://www.commerce.gov/sites/commerce.gov/files/zte_denial_order.pdf), saying that despite the earlier fine and settlement, ZTE had continued to violate US sanctions law and lie to the US government. The new order simply barred American companies from selling anything to ZTE.
On May 8, the Trump administration pulled out of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action with Iran (https://www.vox.com/world/2018/5/8/17328520/iran-nuclear-deal-trump-withdraw) and began the process of trying to make US sanctions on Iran even more stringent in hopes of crippling the Iranian economy.
On May 9, ZTE announced that it was going to have to shut down its entire smartphone business (https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2018/05/the-trump-administration-just-forced-smartphone-maker-zte-to-shut-down/) since it had no viable way to continue operating without Qualcomm chips.
On May 11, a state-owned Chinese construction company called the Metallurgical Corporation of China announced it would float a $500 million loan to Indonesian developers (http://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/2145808/trump-indonesia-project-latest-stop-chinas-belt-and-road) to facilitate the construction of a vast “integrated lifestyle resort” called MNC Lido City that includes Trump-branded hotels, residences, and a golf course.
On May 13, Trump tweeted (https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/995680316458262533): “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!”
On May 14, Trump tweeted about ZTE again (https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/996119678551552000): “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.”

Why did Trump change course on ZTE?

It’s of course possible to interpret Trump’s rapid turnabout on the ZTE issue as reflecting what Ana Swanson, Mark Landler, and Keith Bradsher of the New York Times (https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/14/business/china-trump-zte.html) term “another twist in the pitched battle inside the White House between the economic nationalists, who channel Mr. Trump’s protectionist instincts, and more mainstream advisers, who worry about the effects of hard-line policies on the stock market and long-term economic growth.”

https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/5/15/17355202/trump-zte-indonesia-lido-city