Conference Committee Could Seal Fate of ZTE Export Ban

An amendment that would stop the deal to lift an export ban on ZTE is to be considered by the Senate Monday as part of the defense authorization bill. Since the House didn't include such an amendment in its version, passed in May, conference committee members would have to agree to include it in the final version. House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., who won't be a conferee, said he doesn't know what position the House negotiators will take. "I'm going to leave it to our conferees," he said at a news conference Thursday. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., in response to our question, said it's baffling President Donald Trump sought to intervene in the Commerce Department's enforcement case. Initially, Commerce before Trump weighed in said the company deserved a seven-year export ban because of lies about complying with earlier penalties. "The president is saying we can't act against them because we have to save jobs in China," Pelosi said. "Really? ZTE should not be getting this gift." Wednesday, a White House spokesman defended the revised penalty (see 1806130070), saying it gives the government "complete oversight of their future activity without undue harm to American suppliers and their workers." Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., called that an attempt to derail the bipartisan agreement to restore the export ban. "Both parties in Congress must be resolute in blocking the president's bad, pro-China ZTE deal," he said. "Congress should have the ability to have leverage in that discussion," Pelosi said: "You can't be frivolous about using the national security waiver" on tariffs. Comparing ZTE to steel and aluminum tariffs, she said that "to say you're instituting a tariff because of national security reasons, and at the same time, you're saying to ZTE, 'It's OK if you're a cybersecurity threat, it's OK if you violated the sanctions' -- how can this make sense?"