Trump Says He's Done A Deal To Save ZTE

US President Donald Trump said on Friday that he had reached a deal to keep Chinese telecoms giant ZTE running, rolling back some penalties in exchange for security guarantees -- a move that infuriated Democrats and some in his own party.

The news comes as the US prepares to send a trade delegation back to Beijing next week to continue talks aimed at defusing a potentially serious trade dispute with China, after the countries exchanged huge tit-for-tat threats on imports.

In a tweet on Friday evening the US president praised his plan while lambasting Democrats as well as the Barack Obama administration, who he said "let phone company ZTE flourish with no security checks."

"I closed it down then let it reopen with high level security guarantees, change of management and board, must purchase U.S. parts and pay a $1.3 Billion fine. Dems do nothing...."

In a follow-up tweet he called the "so called Trade Deals" struck by Democrats "the laughing stock of the world!"

The New York Times had reported earlier of a deal with China's ZTE that would lift crippling sanctions slapped on the company.

The reported terms of the deal closely match the conditions US President Donald Trump and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross described earlier this week as a means for the firm to escape the export ban that nearly shuttered its operations.

It provoked a harsh reaction among some members of Congress, however, as lawmakers have been critical of the administration for signaling it might ease the pressure on a company that violated US sanctions on Iran and North Korea and repeatedly lied to US officials.

Democrat Nancy Pelosi, the House Minority Leader, slammed Trump's deal as "a staggering betrayal of the American people."

"Trump pledged to fight for Americans, but he's now using U.S. government resources to enrich ZTE (a foreign company designated a national cybersecurity risk)," Pelosi tweeted.

ZTE was fined US$1.2 billion in March 2017, but last month Washington banned the sale of crucial US components to the company after finding it had lied multiple times and failed to take action against employees responsible for sanctions violations.

Under the new deal brokered by the Commerce Department, according to the Times, ZTE would pay a substantial fine, hire American compliance officers to be placed at the firm and make changes to its current management team. (AFP)