Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer is unhappy about the Trump administration’s plan to cut a deal with the Chinese tech company ZTE, calling it a “bad deal.”
“The toughest thing we could do, the thing that will move China the most, is taking tough action against actors like ZTE,” Schumer said in a statement Monday. “But before it’s even implemented, the president backs off. This leads to the greatest worry, which is that the president will back off on what China fears most — a crackdown on intellectual property theft — in exchange for buying some goods in the short run.
“That’s a bad deal if there ever was one.”
In April, U.S. companies were prohibited from doing business with the ZTE because the firm was accused of violating the terms of punishment for providing equipment to Iran and North Korea.
The Trump administration move to work out a deal with ZTE is aimed at easing trade talks with China. Trump announced his plans over Twitter Sunday.
Schumer said the move “is designed to achieve one goal: Make China great again.”
But the move is expected to help yield a more favorable trade agreement with China.
