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China is sending conciliatory signals as U.S. and Chinese negotiators meet in Washington to try to head off a trade war between the world’s two biggest economies. Beijing has dropped an anti-dumping investigation into imported U.S. sorghum, which it had accused the United States of unfairly subsiding. It has also given approval for a U.S. private equity firm to buy Toshiba’s memory chip business. Those gestures could suggest a thaw with the U.S. as trade talks went on for a second day Friday in Washington. “China has come to trade,” Larry Kudlow, the top White House economic adviser, told reporters....

Marco Rubio ‏ Verified account @marcorubio Follow Follow @marcorubio More #ZTE issue should have nothing to do with broader trade talks. What is the point of cancelling Iran deal if we aren’t going to sanction those like ZTE who help Iran avoid sanctions? Plus ZTE helps #China spy on America & steal our intellectual property.

A federal judge has rejected President Trump’s push to dismiss a lawsuit against him for allegedly violating the emoluments clause of the Constitution. U.S. District Judge Peter Messitte in Maryland shut down the Justice Department’s arguments to dismiss the lawsuit filed by the attorney generals in D.C and Maryland, according to court documents. Trump is accused of violating the clause, which prevents elected officials from receiving gifts or benefits from foreign governments without Congress’s approval. --This breaking news report will be updated.

A summons has been issued to President Trump in a lawsuit alleging he is violating the emoluments clause of the Constitution. The lawsuit — filed by the attorneys general in Washington, D.C., and Maryland — alleges that Trump is violating the clause, which prevents elected officials from receiving gifts or benefits from foreign governments without Congress’s approval, WAMU reported. The lawsuit is filed against Trump in his "official capacity and in his individual capacity," according to the Washington, D.C., radio station. The lawsuit also argues that businesses in Maryland and D.C. have been hurt because groups instead choose to stay...

A federal judge on Thursday dismissed a lawsuit alleging President Trump violated the Constitution’s emoluments clause because his hotels and golf courses continue to do business with foreign governments while he’s serving in office. U.S. District Court Judge George Daniels said the lawsuit was flawed from the start because the plaintiffs, led by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, lacked standing. Daniels, an appointee of former President Bill Clinton, also said the matter should be taken before Congress, not the courts. “As the only political branch with the power to consent to violations of the Foreign Emoluments Clause,...

A federal judge on Thursday dismissed a lawsuit from a liberal watchdog organization arguing President Trump is violating the Emoluments Clause of the Constitution by paying foreign governments. Judge George Daniels dismissed the case on “lack of standing,” agreeing with Trump’s lawyers’ argument that the claims do not fall within the interests of the Emoluments Clause, and should be resolved through the “political process," according to the ruling. Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) filed a lawsuit earlier this year claiming that because Trump has not fully divested from his businesses, he is receiving “cash and favors from...

A federal judge has granted two attorneys general permission to subpoena 23 Trump businesses to require them to preserve documents potentially related to an emoluments case. The two-page order by U.S. District Judge Peter Messittee grants the request by Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh and District of Columbia Attorney Karl Racine for permission to serve the subpoenas related to their lawsuit. Their lawsuit, filed in June, alleges that President Trump’s wide-ranging businesses with foreign and domestic governments violate the Foreign and Domestic Emoluments Clauses. Trump has motioned to dismiss the lawsuit, and oral arguments are scheduled for Jan. 25, 2018.

Democratic members of Congress on Wednesday sued President Trump in federal court, claiming he had violated the emoluments clause of the Constitution by accepting foreign funds through the Trump business without Congressional approval. The Washington Post broke the news early Wednesday morning, reporting that 196 lawmakers had joined the complaint, more than any lawmakers ever to sign on to sue a president. Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) led the filing in federal district court, and said Tuesday that while no Republicans had joined the lawsuit, they were welcome to do so. Rep. John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.) led the legal effort in...

In a moment of glory for Constitution nerds, "Emoluments Clause" was trending last week on Twitter. That's the clause in our nation's founding document that bans federal officeholders from accepting favors from foreign governments without the OK of Congress. It has come to the fore in part because the operations of the Trump Organization regularly throw President-elect Trump and his family into business relations with such governments and their representatives. For example, Trump just threw an event welcoming potential customers to his newly opened Washington hotel, which is expected to do a boom business on inauguration week. Some diplomats told...

Emoluments Clause is a big deal, and it was written to protect our country from foreign meddling and influence. But, most of Trump's personal economic benefits are not from foreign dignitaries or governments, but from private sources The 1828 Webster’s Dictionary is our best source for defining the words used in the earliest articles of the United States Constitution. If we are going to pursue the original intent of the document written in 1787, it is only logical to pursue the original definitions of the words used in that document. Emolument is a term that appears in the U.S. Constitution’s...

Rep. Adam Schiff said Tuesday that the Chinese business deal linked to President Trump’s properties was a violation of the Emoluments Clause. “I certainly view this as a violation of the Emoluments Clause,” Mr. Schiff, California Democrat, said on CNN. Mr. Trump tweeted on Sunday that he wanted federal officials to help get the Chinese phone company ZTE back into business after U.S. penalties threatened to shut the business down, according to The Hill. The Huffington Post reported that it was only 72 hours later that a Chinese company offered a $500 million loan to an Indonesia construction project associated...

ZTE, a Chinese telecommunications company with a record of systemic corruption, is bidding for major contracts in Australia, including Telstra's 5G mobile network and a transport contract in Western Australia, even after being criminally sanctioned in the United States. An investigation by Fairfax Media has found ZTE not only paid $US12.8 million ($17 million) in bribes to secure one contract in West Africa, but had a designated internal department and multiple layers of management to approve these payments, according to a former insider. Documents show the bribes were meticulously recorded and ran to more than 20 per cent of one...

Susan Rice, a former Obama national security adviser, was left aghast Sunday after President Trump announced he was interceding in a trade dispute between his own Commerce Department and a Chinese telecommunications firm. "Even with all the crazy, this move by the President stands out as super-whack," Rice wrote on Twitter. Even with all the crazy, this move by the President stands out as super-whack. https://t.co/uVLTXNSKyQ

FCC chairman Ajit Pai is proposing new rules that would bar telecommunications and broadband companies from using a government subsidy program to buy telecom equipment and services from "any company that poses a national security threat." (please see link, for full article)

In Wilbur Ross' first public announcement, the former hedge fund manger and current Trump commerce secretary announced that China's telecommunications giant ZTE has agreed to pay a total of $1.2 billion in penalties and plead guilty to violating U.S. sanctions on Iran, selling US technology to Tehran, and obstructing a federal investigation, ending a five-year probe that has raised trade tensions between the U.S. and China. The penalty was among the largest ever in a sanctions case. ZTE was accused that over a six-year-long period, it planned to obtain technology products from the U.S., incorporate them into ZTE equipment and...

Millions of American users of smartphones made by ZTE Corp. are already feeling the fallout from the U.S. Commerce Department’s blacklisting of the Chinese phonemaker: They’re unable to update Google’s Android operating system. Last month’s wide-ranging order by the U.S. Commerce Department prevents American companies from selling components and software to ZTE, the fourth-largest vendor of mobile phones in the U.S. That has led Google to halt updates to ZTE phones, leaving users cut off from security patches, technical support and other functions provided by the Android operating system used on ZTE’s smartphones. Though Chinese consumers have shunned ZTE in...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump’s pledge to help a Chinese telecommunication company that broke U.S. sanctions law sparked a backlash from lawmakers who said the move could weaken the U.S. hand in upcoming trade talks with Beijing. The Commerce Department last month banned U.S. companies from selling to ZTE Corp for seven years after it illegally shipped goods made with U.S. parts to Iran and North Korea, prompting the company to shut its main business operations last week. Trump said on Sunday that he was working with Chinese President Xi Jinping to help ZTE revive jobs. In exchange for...

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Sunday that he and Chinese President Xi Jinping are working to give Chinese telecom company ZTE Corp "a way to get back into business, fast."ZTE earlier this month suspended its main operations after the U.S. Commerce Department banned American supplies to its business.As one of the world's largest telecom equipment makers, ZTE relied on U.S. companies such as Qualcomm and Intel for components.

A Chinese tech giant brought to its knees and delays for imported U.S. cars, apples, lumber and other agricultural products are early signs the widening trade dispute between China and the U.S. is exacting a toll on both sides. More talks aimed at resolving the conflict are planned for next week in Washington, while both sides dig in for a fight over their trade imbalance. The tech company, telecommunications equipment and smartphone maker ZTE, said Wednesday that it’s ceasing “major operations” after the U.S. last month banned it from doing business with American suppliers for seven years as a punishment...

ZTE Corporation, a Chinese firm that sells millions of phones in the United States, has halted "major operating activities" after a US ban against the company went into effect, according to a new public filing. Some of the company's products, which includes smartphones and telecommunications equipment, appeared to no longer be for sale online on Wednesday. It was unclear exactly which of ZTE's operations were impacted. The public filing says the company has enough cash to fulfill its "commercial obligations." No further details were offered. The company did not immediately respond to a request for more information. ZTE said last...