Sorry about the long thread, but this tweet requires a little context in order to understand just how nuts it is.
ZTE is the 2nd largest Chinese telecom equipment maker. Between 2010-2016, ZTE conspired to evade the US embargo on Iran. The behavior was so substantial and so brazen that it resulted in the largest criminal fine of its type in US history, totaling just under $1.2 billion.
How can the U.S. fine a Chinese company for doing business with Iran? Well…about 25%-30% of the components ZTE uses are manufactured by American companies like Qualcomm, Microsoft, Intel, etc. Shipping those hi-tech products to Iran during an embargo was therefore…not ok.
ZTE knew that they could not sell products with hi-tech American components to Iran. They did it anyway. A lot. And then lied about it. Repeatedly. (They also sent nearly 300 shipments of microprocessors, servers and routers to North Korea btw, and lied about that too.)
Per acting assistant attorney general, Mary B. McCord (via the NY Times), “ZTE engaged in an elaborate scheme to acquire U.S.-origin items, send the items to Iran and mask its involvement in those exports.”
In fact one of the only reasons the DOJ knew the full extent of the behavior was because the US "seized a laptop belonging to a ZTE lawyer that contained a trove of documents outlining the company’s illegal sales."
The actual fine was assessed mere weeks into the new Trump administration. Trump's Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said, "The games are over. Those who flout our economic sanctions and export control laws will not go unpunished — they will suffer the harshest of consequences.”
Now this part is important: about 1/4 of the overall fine was suspended, pending ZTE's compliance with the ruling. The Commerce Dept. had also ruled that American companies could not do business with ZTE for 7 years, but that part was ALSO suspended pending successful compliance.
This was last March. Then a little over a month ago the Commerce Department moved ahead and barred U.S. companies from doing business with ZTE for 7 years, saying the company had AGAIN violated the ruling!
According to the Washington Post, "Senior Commerce Department officials, who insisted on anonymity to brief reporters, said ZTE repeatedly lied to the United States about its treatment of workers who participated in the scheme to outwit U.S. sanctions."
Once again, Commerce Secretary Ross was less than amused. “ZTE misled the Department of Commerce. Instead of reprimanding ZTE staff and senior management, ZTE rewarded them. This egregious behavior cannot be ignored.”
Ross was not alone in his anger. Rep. Mike Conaway introduced a bill that would ban any government agency from using ZTE. The DOD ordered US military bases to stop selling their phones. The UK's National Cyber Security Centre issued a letter warning against the company’s use. Etc
Now, less than 5 weeks after the latest Commerce Department action, and out of the blue, Trump is ordering the Commerce Department to help ZTE "get back into business, fast."
And so far at least, no one seems to have any idea what the actual fuck is going on.
And so far at least, no one seems to have any idea what the actual fuck is going on.
"This is entirely unprecedented," said Doug Jacobson, an export controls and sanctions attorney who represents suppliers that do business with ZTE. Kevin Wolf, who was assistant secretary of commerce under President Obama, simply said "I am speechless."
To recap: Trump just shredded American participation in a multi-national agreement with Iran that has been called a "diplomatic masterpiece" so that he could re-implement sanctions. Yet he is now helping a Chinese company that was a gigantic violator of those same sanctions.
And the reason he is giving for this, at least in the above tweet? Chinese jobs. Our "America First" president is shitting all over his own strategy on Iran, a strategy that has already severely damaged the Western Alliance, in order to save Chinese jobs. **CHINESE jobs**
Watching this administration in action is like watching a clown car driven by an angry 6 year-old. You don't know who thought this was a good idea, or exactly what's going to happen next, but you know that it's going to be confusing and stupid and will not end well.
Also, and at the risk of pointing out the obvious, don't be surprised if a few new Trump hotels open in China over the next several years. /end
