The Chinese phone maker ZTE is out of business, after a U.S. Commerce Department ruling that the company didn’t stick by an agreement to abide by sanctions on North Korea and Iran. But President Donald Trump says he’s working to keep ZTE alive – to preserve jobs. Critics wonder what this is all about.
Members of Congress on both sides of the aisle have a problem with the president’s position. They claim ZTE poses a national security risk, and that the company steals U.S. technology. So how did this happen – the president trying to spare a Chinese tech firm while Congress is urging him to hold the line against that company?
Digital savant Omar Gallaga of the Austin American-Statesman’s 512 Tech says ZTE isn’t a major player in the U.S. phone market, though it is a large company that has stolen U.S. technology.
“And they’re big-time patent trolls,” Gallaga says. “…They get sued a lot, in a lot of different countries for patent violations.”
What you’ll hear in this segment:
–Why the Commerce Department came down on ZTE
–How the president wants to help ZTE
–What members of Congress have to say about the president’s plan
