America First, BAYBEE!

[jbluhm86]

 

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/13/business/trump-vows-to-save-jobs-at-chinas-zte-lost-after-us-sanctions.html

[DieHardBrownsFan]

Kind of a strange thing to say.

[jbluhm86]

It certainly is, especially when you take into consideration on why the US sanctioned ZTE in the first place:

http://fortune.com/2018/05/14/china-iran-zte-donald-trump/

[Westside Steve]

One of the things you gotta love about the left is their a complete inability to see their own hypocrisy. If this situation would have gone the other way you guys would have been screaming that he was starting a trade, or potential nuclear War.

And before the Woodpecker chimes in yes there are people on both sides who wait for a news story and decide which way they can spin it against whoever they don't like.

WSS

[jbluhm86]

42 minutes ago, Westside Steve said:

One of the things you gotta love about the left is their a complete inability to see their own hypocrisy. If this situation would have gone the other way you guys would have been screaming that he was starting a trade, or potential nuclear War.

And before the Woodpecker chimes in yes there are people on both sides who wait for a news story and decide which way they can spin it against whoever they don't like.

WSS

Your whataboutism aside, this move by Trump runs counter to what has been one of his campaign and administration's core principals: America first. He seems to be more worried about jobs in China rather than potential jobs created in the US.

However, the bigger issue here is why ZTE was sanctioned in the first place: for starters, they were violating the US' sanctions on Iran and North Korea by shipping US made technology and money to those regimes and lying to the US government about it. Reinstating sanctions against Iran would seem to have no teeth if the US looked the other way on a major Chinese company doing business and trading US tech and capital with Iran. Secondly, ZTE and another Chinese comany, Huawei, have been accused of using their technology in espionage activity against the US for China. It's such a concern, that the Pentagon has ordered their products to stop being sold and used on US military bases.

So, for a President who's mantra has been "America First", its rather confusing on why he seems so intent on getting these Chinese companies back into the US market. And, for the record, it isn't just the left who is putting "spin" on this story, other, more right-leaning news outlets are also left scratching their heads over this deal.

[Westside Steve]

"So, for a President who's mantra has been "America First", its rather confusing on why he seems so intent on getting these Chinese companies back into the US market. And, for the record, it isn't just the left who is putting "spin" on this story, other, more right-leaning news outlets are also left scratching their heads over this deal."

 

So you are against this deal or not? Or do you think it's good policy?

WSS

[jbluhm86]

37 minutes ago, Westside Steve said:

"So, for a President who's mantra has been "America First", its rather confusing on why he seems so intent on getting these Chinese companies back into the US market. And, for the record, it isn't just the left who is putting "spin" on this story, other, more right-leaning news outlets are also left scratching their heads over this deal."

 

So you are against this deal or not? Or do you think it's good policy?

WSS

The deal and policy are two separate things.

Do I think that Trump wanting to work a deal with ZTE to re-enter the US market can be good? Possibly, since the proverbial cat is out of the bag that Trump is willing to deal with them before the Chinese agreed publicly to certain concessions; a f.uckup on Trump's part. But that deal should come with the understanding that those companies are prohibited from further trading of US goods and capital with Iran and North Korea while US sanctions are still in place, and another public understanding that violating these terms will result in a permanent expulsion from US markets. But, seeing as how ingrained the Chinese government is with these companies, I have my doubts on that.

Do I think that it's good policy in general for Trump to try to circumvent economic sanctions issued by our government? No, because it's a show of weakness on his part, much as it was when Obama used to do the same. A big reason why the US has lost so much prestige and sway on the world stage is because we are perceived to cave in when pressured, i.e. Obama's red line, etc. Sanctions are only as good as the muscle and willingness to use it when sanctions are violated. Trump working around these sanctions without public concessions from those companies and/or the Chinese government is just another display of weakness that can be exploited.

[The Cysko Kid]

Sounds like a calculated risk to appease the Chinese to me. Unless they are absolutely dirt cheap it's hard to see ZTE being the next big thing here 

[jbluhm86]

57 minutes ago, The Cysko Kid said:

Sounds like a calculated risk to appease the Chinese to me. Unless they are absolutely dirt cheap it's hard to see ZTE being the next big thing here 

You'd be surprised. They had a sizable market share in the US. That's why the sanction would be such a potent statement, if Trump actually sticks with it.

[Canton Dawg]

20 minutes ago, jbluhm86 said:

You'd be surprised. They had a sizable market share in the US. That's why the sanction would be such a potent statement, if Trump actually sticks with it.

So you're saying there's Chinese collusion going on??

[The Cysko Kid]

I guess I'm not actually surprised. If there's anything America loves it's cheap knock off almost-good-enough Chinese crap. 

[jbluhm86]

3 hours ago, Canton Dawg said:

So you're saying there's Chinese collusion going on??

Now who's being petulant? 

[Canton Dawg]

2 hours ago, jbluhm86 said:

Now who's being petulant? 

Well, seeing there’s more “evidence” of Chinese collusion versus the lack of evidence of Russian collusion...you can connect the dots.

Or maybe you can’t?

[MLD Woody]

9 hours ago, Westside Steve said:

One of the things you gotta love about the left is their a complete inability to see their own hypocrisy. 

WSS

Ha

[Canton Dawg]

1 hour ago, MLD Woody said:

Ha

 

[Westside Steve]

Have to give you a credit there's a lot of noise about this and frankly I don't know who's right and who's wrong. Probably neither one my guess would be this is similar to his dealings with other interests. You know start out breathing fire calling them names at cetera and then shaking hands and giving them something. I don't know what China gains substantially or what we would. Seems like we need the Chinapersons to help with North Korea right?

WSS

[LogicIsForSquares]

An outsider perspective who doesn’t give a Sheet about US politics: Two of my coworkers who immigrated here from Ethiopia have said it was well known that if you got an ZTE or a Huawei that your phone calls were being recorded. The country got flooded with cheap Chinese phones.

The Ethiopian government didn’t have the tech to track phone calls but were allegedly paying both of those companies to track certain types of chatter. That is how they rounded up some of the political opposition who was operating in secret.

[Westside Steve]

7 hours ago, LogicIsForSquares said:

An outsider perspective who doesn’t give a Sheet about US politics: Two of my coworkers who immigrated here from Ethiopia have said it was well known that if you got an ZTE or a Huawei that your phone calls were being recorded. The country got flooded with cheap Chinese phones.

The Ethiopian government didn’t have the tech to track phone calls but were allegedly paying both of those companies to track certain types of chatter. That is how they rounded up some of the political opposition who was operating in secret.

Logic, I can imagine there are hundreds of reasons to want to get the hell out of Ethiopia but regardless of the administration here in the US I just can't work up a good paranoid fever about the government rounding up dissidents and tracking us by our cell phones. Your mileage May differ.

WSS

[LogicIsForSquares]

1 hour ago, Westside Steve said:

Logic, I can imagine there are hundreds of reasons to want to get the hell out of Ethiopia but regardless of the administration here in the US I just can't work up a good paranoid fever about the government rounding up dissidents and tracking us by our cell phones. Your mileage May differ.

WSS

I was just giving some reference to the business dealings of phone companies China is trying to spread around the world. 

I have zero concern about that sort of thing happening here. Also, I won’t be using some cheap Chinese POS phone.

[Westside Steve]

I have to do more research than I feel like doing but my guess would be every phone is made in China.

Probably most of the tablets computers or anything else.

WSS

[LogicIsForSquares]

10 hours ago, Westside Steve said:

I have to do more research than I feel like doing but my guess would be every phone is made in China.

Probably most of the tablets computers or anything else.

WSS

I imagine many are made there with the watchful eye of US companies. However, Chinese owned firms would be more apt to play ball with the Chinese govt demands.