US Senate passes bill that could kill Donald Trump’s ZTE deal – but the president isn’t done yet
Trump’s plan to meet with lawmakers on Wednesday emerged on Monday afternoon, as the Senate was poised to pass a bill that would help nail ZTE’s coffin shut
The US Senate passed a US$716 billion defence policy bill on Monday that backs President Donald Trump’s call for a bigger, stronger military but would also repeal his deal to reopen Chinese telecoms company ZTE.
The Republican-controlled Senate voted 85-10 for the annual National Defense Authorization Act, or NDAA, which authorises US military spending but is generally used as a vehicle for a broad range of policy matters – in this case a block on US companies selling to ZTE, undoing Trump’s recent deal.
But the bill won’t become law yet; first it must be reconciled with one already passed by the House of Representatives, which does not feature the ZTE ban – and that provides Trump with an opportunity to make sure his deal stays alive.
Earlier on Monday, it emerged that Trump had planned a meeting of Republican lawmakers in which he intends to persuade them to remove the ZTE language during the reconciliation phase’s conference negotiations.
Trump’s meeting, planned for Wednesday, was confirmed on Monday by Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn of Texas and may include other Republicans such as Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina.