China on Thursday said it was adding dozens of American companies to its export control list to “safeguard national security and interests.”
China’s Ministry of Commerce said it would impose measures on 28 U.S. entities, and would also prohibit exports of dual-use items to the listed companies starting on Thursday, reported the Global Times, a Chinese daily viewed as aligned with Beijing, and the government-run Xinhua news agency. Dual-use items refers to those that can be used for either civilian or military purposes.
China also sanctioned 10 defense firms on Thursday over military sales to Taiwan, the self-governing island that China claims as its own, adding them to China’s “Unreliable Entities List,” the ministry said, according to AFP.
The moves come as Beijing readies for the return of President-elect Donald Trump to the White House and after the Biden administration broadened its restrictions on Chinese firms amid an escalating back-and-forth. During his presidential campaign, Trump raised the idea of imposing a tariff of up to 60% on all Chinese goods.
China last month said it was investigating U.S. microchip maker Nvidia over potential violations of Chinese anti-monopoly laws.
Still, the tit-for-tat measures are unlikely to escalate to some of the threatened actions, some analysts think.
“Changes to immigration, trade and fiscal policy under the second Trump administration will likely be meaningful but stop short of some of the more dramatic proposals,” stated Goldman Sachs Economic Research analysts in a recent report. “We expect tariffs on imports from China and autos, but not a universal tariff, which would carry economic and political risks that we think the White House will prefer to avoid.”
China’s action comes less than a week after it placed sanctions on seven companies in responding to recently announced U.S. military sales and aid to Taiwan,
Still, sanctions by Beijing targeting American defense company tend to have limited impact, as the U.S. military firms don’t sell arms or other such goods to China.
contributed to this report.