Congress counters Trump's promise to save Chinese telecom giant ZTE after it violated US sanctions

The legislation is being introduced as an amendment to a defence bill

The ZTE logo is seen on an office building in Shanghai on 3 May 2018. (JOHANNES EISELE/AFP/Getty Images)

Senators introduced bipartisan legislation that attempts to counter President Donald Trump’s promise to save Chinese telecommunications giant ZTE after it violated US sanctions laws.

US Department of Commerce chief Wilbur Ross announced that the US would ease sanctions slapped on the company after it lied and later admitted to selling products with US parts to North Korea and Iran. The move is in response to Mr Trump’s 13 May tweet saying: "Too many jobs in China lost. Commerce Department has been instructed to get it done!"

The US sanctions, imposed in April 2018, had forced the company to shut down much of its operations.

The Senate bill, brought by Democrats and Republicans, would restore the penalties placed on ZTE for violating US sanctions and once again ban American companies from doing business with it and another major Chinese firm, Huawei Technologies.

The legislation would also prohibit the government from subsidising ZTE, Huawei, or any affiliates and subsidiaries as a way of getting around export controls.

Democratic Senators Chuck Schumer and Chris Van Hollen were joined in introducing the bill by a somewhat surprising face - normally reliable ally of Mr Trump Republican Senator Tom Cotton.

"One of the few areas where the president and I agreed, and I was vocally supportive, was his approach towards China. But even here he is backing off, and his policy is now designed to achieve one goal: make China great again,” Mr Schumer said back in May.

Co-sponsors include Republican Senators Marco Rubio and Susan Collins, and Democrats Richard Blumenthal and Bill Nelson.

Mr Rubio, who had squared off against the president and his “Lil Marco” insults during the 2016 campaign, said last month that it would be “crazy” to allow China to operate in US markets without more restrictions.

He tweeted that China has “unrestricted” access to the American market, but that American companies have been “ruined” because China blocked its market to them and “stole their intellectual property”.

They offered the legislation as an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), a defence policy bill Congress passes every year. The Senate is expected to debate the NDAA next week at which time it will be determined if the ZTE amendment can come up for a vote.

Washington and Beijing were also in the midst of trade negotiations at the time of Mr Trump’s instruction to Mr Ross. The two also continue to be in a tense back-and-forth regarding the upcoming 12 June summit between Mr Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, one of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s apparent allies.