CHINA/CONGRESS/SANCTIONS/TECHNOLOGY/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Senate and House negotiators removed from a must-pass defense bill a legislative attempt to undo President’s Donald Trump’s deal with Beijing to save Chinese telecommunications giant ZTE Corp. , which has been deemed a sanctions violator and a threat to national security by U.S. officials, according to people familiar with the matter. Supporters were unable to muster the support of the Republican leadership needed to overturn the president’s initiative, which lifted a ban on U.S. companies selling components to the Chinese business. Because ZTE depends on U.S. suppliers, the move was effectively a death knell for the company. Many in Congress had shown a willingness to confront Mr. Trump on the issue, which was seen as part of growing congressional restiveness with the president’s policies on a range of trade and national security issues…The saga over the fate of the Chinese firm began in April when the Commerce Department banned U.S. companies from selling to ZTE for failing to honor an earlier U.S. agreement to resolve its sanctions-busting sales to North Korea and Iran. That move jeopardized the Chinese company’s existence. But in a surprise tweet on May 13, Mr. Trump said that he and Chinese President Xi Jinping were ‘working together’ to find a way to save ZTE.”
-Kate O’Keeffe and Siobhan Hughes, “Congress Ends Bid to Undo Trump Deal to Save China’s ZTE,” The Wall Street Journal, July 20, 2018 3:02 pm