CHINA/SANCTIONS/TARIFFS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “The U.S. and China are closing in on a deal that would give China’s ZTE Corp. a reprieve from potentially crippling U.S. sanctions in exchange for Beijing removing tariffs on billions of dollars of U.S. agricultural products, said people in both countries briefed on the deal. The negotiations would also ease roadblocks in China faced by a U.S. semiconductor company Qualcomm Inc., whose proposed acquisition of NXP Semiconductors NV of the Netherlands has been held up by Beijing. China’s Commerce Ministry has pledged to immediately restart its review of the acquisition, a person close to the agency said. The ministry has held up a number of multibillion-dollar cross-border deals being pursued by U.S. companies over the past few months. ZTE is a Shenzen-based telecommunication-equipment producer that has been hamstrung by a U.S. ban on component sales to the firm. A deal isn’t completed and could fall apart as discussions continue, particularly since the U.S. side is sharply divided over how to deal with China. On Sunday [5-13-18], President Donald Trump said in a tweet that he was working with Chinese President Xi Jinping to get ZTE ‘a way to get back into business, fast. Too many jobs in China lost.’ He said the Commerce Department has been instructed to ‘get it done!'”
-Lingling Wei and Bob Davis, “U.S., China Discussing Deal on ZTE, Agricultural Tariffs,” The Wall Street Journal, May 14, 2018 2:26 pm