Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer criticized the United States President Donald Trump over the ongoing negotiations to lift a ban on American companies selling components to Chinese telecommunications giant ZTE. The top Democrat in the Senate said that a possible deal on ZTE would be a "great defeat" for Trump, while at the same time it would represent a "slap on the wrist" for China.
"The art of the deal it should be President Xi who writes the book because he's taken us to the cleaners on ZTE," Schumer said during a speech at the Senate floor. "The deal President Trump seems to be making is exactly the kind of deal that Donald Trump, before he was President Trump, would call weak or the worst deal ever."
Meanwhile, Trump said earlier today that a deal has not yet been reached with China on ZTE, but added that he is "looking into the situation." His announcement follows a vote of the Senate Banking Committee which would require the president to certify to Congress that ZTE is complying with US laws before easing sanctions against it. Also, several reports claimed earlier today that Washington and Beijing agreed in broad terms to abolish sanctions targeting the Shenzhen-based firm, which have been in force since April, in exchange for what may be "significant fines."