Congressman Ted Deutch (D-FL-22) and Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL-27) introduced legislation to prevent the President from cancelling penalties on Chinese telecommunications company ZTE.

The intelligence community has repeatedly warned that ZTE poses national security threats to the United States. In April 2018, the Commerce Department effectively banned ZTE from doing business with U.S. firms for its repeated violations of U.S. law. ZTE has exported products to Iran and North Korea, while lying to U.S. investigators during an investigation into these practices. The Iranian government has used ZTE’s technology to target its own people.

“ZTE doesn’t deserve a bail out from President Trump,” said Congressman Deutch. “It is unclear why the President is ignoring the warning of his own Administration, but letting ZTE off the hook after Trump owned businesses move forward with real estate deals funded by the Chinese government raises serious concerns. The President has provided no justification for this sweetheart deal. Congress has worked to craft tough bipartisan sanctions that protect our national security. Contrary to President Trump’s claims that he will use “maximum pressure” to advance America’s interests, his actions will hollow out our sanctions laws and give bad actors a green light to collaborate with our enemies.”