President Trump said on Sunday that he is working with Chinese President Xi Jinping to ensure that telecommunications equipment-maker ZTE can be allowed to do business with the U.S. again.
Trump said via Twitter that too many jobs in China were lost because of ZTE’s issues, concluding that he has instructed the Commerce Department to “get it done.”
The telecom giant was slapped with an export ban from the Commerce Department last month after the U.S. said it violated the terms of a deal by evading sanctions against Iran and North Korea.
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ZTE, the fourth largest mobile phone vendor in the U.S., said it has submitted a formal request to the Commerce Department to stay the order that prevents American suppliers from selling to the company.
The company believes the ban is a disproportionate penalty, according to a source who spoke with The Wall Street Journal.
The ban reportedly has been debilitating to ZTE because it relies on U.S. companies for a number of supplies that are critical to its devices.
Later on Sunday afternoon Trump tweeted that the U.S. and China are “working well on trade” but argued that past negotiations favored China. However, he reassured people that “it will all work out.”
The United Kingdom also told its phone carriers to avoid ZTE’s equipment and devices out of concerns that they could be used to help the Chinese government infiltrate or compromise the U.K.’s telecommunication infrastructure.
Updated at 3:36 p.m.