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China has imposed export controls on 10 American companies involved in defence, aerospace and rare earth mining, in response to Washington’s decision to expand a blacklist of Chinese firms it says have links to the country’s military.
The measures were announced on Monday by China’s Commerce Ministry, which said Chinese exporters would be prohibited from supplying “dual-use” items to the listed entities. Dual-use goods are products that can have both civilian and military applications.
The ministry said the move came “in response to the US government’s egregious act of adding to its so-called ‘Chinese military enterprise list'”, adding that it was also intended to “safeguard national security”.
Separately, China’s Finance Ministry announced that government agencies would be prohibited from purchasing products from 46 American companies, including Lockheed Martin, Raytheon and General Dynamics units.
The sanctions come a month after US President Donald Trump visited Beijing for talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping aimed at stabilising relations between the world’s two largest economies. Although both sides agreed to work towards reducing tariffs, tensions have since resurfaced over technology and defence.
Earlier this month, the US Defense Department added several major Chinese companies, including Alibaba, Baidu and BYD, to a list of firms it says have links to the Chinese military. The designation prevents them from receiving US military contracts.
Baidu rejected the accusation, saying the suggestion that it is a military company is “totally baseless.”
China’s Commerce Ministry also said the restrictions would extend beyond Chinese exporters to “organisations or individuals in any country or region… transferring or providing dual-use items originating in China to said entities”.
The 10 companies subject to China’s new export controls are:
- AVEOX (Simi Valley, California)
- Red Cat Holdings (South Salt Lake, Utah)
- Teal Drones (South Salt Lake, Utah)
- IMSAR (Springville, Utah)
- Jaia Robotics (Bristol, Rhode Island)
- Ball Aerospace & Technologies (Broomfield, Colorado)
- Oshkosh Defense (Oshkosh, Wisconsin)
- L3Harris Maritime Services (Norfolk, Virginia)
- MP Materials (Las Vegas, Nevada)
- USA Rare Earth (Stillwater, Oklahoma)
Additional sources • AFP, AP