Sticking with trade ties. US President Donald Trump is facing pressure from members of his own political party over his attempts to ease up on Chinese telecom company ZTE. The president has pledged to help the company, but some Republican lawmakers say Trump is caving-in amid concerns that Chinese technology firms threaten U.S. security. CGTN's Owen Fairclough has more.

President Donald Trump brought Chinese telecom giant ZTE to its knees by banning U.S. companies from supplying it with critical components as punishment for violating sanctions against Iran. Now he wants to save the company.

Trump pledged to help ZTE as part of a deal with China to avert a trade war that threatened to harm both economies. But his move has triggered a rebellion of sorts in his Republican party - senior lawmaker Marco Rubio accusing the U.S. president of surrendering to Chinese pressure and allowing Beijing to "out negotiate" the Trump administration. But the U.S. treasury secretary insisted the government will address concerns that Chinese technology companies like ZTE are a threat to U.S. national security.

STEVEN MNUCHIN US TREASURY SECRETARY "China has welcomed Trump's offer, having agreed to buy more American goods as a way to remedy import-export imbalances which is at the heart of U.S. complaints."

LU KANG, SPOKESPERSON CHINA'S FOREIGN MINISTRY "China and the United States have reached a consensus - both sides will start negotiations on details of how to implement the consensus. The U.S. will send a high level delegation to China for detailed negotiations."

Positive language after weeks of trade tensions. But Trump's ZTE deal is creating fresh problems on his doorstep - The U.S. Congress has voted for a new law making it harder for a president to modify penalties against Chinese telecoms firms.

OFA, CGTN, Washington.