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Rep Anna Eshoo

Eshoo: ZTE... A 'Clear and Direct Challenge to Our National Security'

June 6, 2018
WASHINGTON, D.C— Today, Congresswoman Anna G. Eshoo (D-CA), a senior member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, urged Department of Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross to reinstate the Department's denial of export privileges against Chinese telecommunications manufacturer ZTE.

In her letter to the Secretary, Rep. Eshoo outlined the serious transgressions of ZTE. In April 2018, the U.S. blocked ZTE's access to U.S. suppliers, saying the company violated a 2017 sanctions settlement related to trading with Iran and North Korea and then lied about the violations. Secretary Ross's Commerce Department also found that ZTE paid full bonuses to employees who engaged in illegal conduct, and then lied about it to U.S. authorities.

"Your number-one responsibility and mine is contained in our Oath of Office: to ‘protect and defend' our citizens from enemies external and internal.  We cannot make deals with foreign entities with a history of compromising our telecommunications sector when it presents a clear and direct challenge to our national security," Rep. Eshoo wrote. "I urge you to rescind your decision to entertain any U.S. relationship with ZTE, to closely reexamine potential conflicts with other foreign companies, and to publicly reinforce that commitment."

The full text of the letter can be found here.