Trump’s bid to help firm draws fire, raises hopes

WASHINGTON» A long-running dispute between American regulators and Chinese telecom company ZTE may have handed President Donald Trump some unexpected leverage in avoiding a trade war with Beijing.

Trump’s tweet Sunday that he was working with President Xi Jinping of China to put ZTE “back into business, fast” after U.S. sanctions threatened ZTE’s existence and 70,000 Chinese jobs caught many tradewatchers by surprise.

“Too many jobs in China lost,” Trump tweeted. “Commerce Department has been instructed to get it done!”

The overture came just as Vice Premier Liu He is flying to Washington for talks aimed at heading off a mutually harmful battle between the world’s two biggest economies and just before U.S. companies plan to plead during three days of hearings for a resolution to the dispute.

Trade analysts say it is highly unusual for a president to intercede in a case brought support as it prepares for talks with North Korea that are intended to persuade the Pyongyang regime to abandon nuclear weapons.

Commerce and ZTE last year settled charges that the Chinese company sold sensitive telecommunications equipment to Iran and North Korea in violation of U.S. sanctions. ZTE agreed to plead guilty and pay about $1 billion in fines.

Last month, Commerce accused ZTE of violating the agreement and blocked ZTE from importing American components for seven years. The department said ZTE had misled regulators: Instead of disciplining all employees involved in the sanctions violations, Commerce said, ZTE paid some of them full bonuses and then lied about it.

The seven-year ban was tantamount to a death sentence for ZTE.

“It was basically going to put them out of business,” Dollar said. “They rely on American technology.”

Last week, the company announced that it was halting operations.