China hits dozens of US companies with trade controls

China on Thursday singled out dozens of companies from the United States, including Raytheon, Boeing and Lockheed Martin, in a series of punitive trade measures that could ratchet up tensions between the two superpowers.
With weeks to go before President-elect Donald Trump takes office with a promise to impose new tariffs and sanctions on China, Beijing is once again showing it is ready to strike back.

China's Ministry of Commerce said it added 28 companies to an export control list to "safeguard national security and interests." It also banned the export of so-called dual-use items, which have both civilian and military applications, to those companies. And it placed 10 companies on what it calls an "unreliable entities list" related to the sale of arms to Taiwan, preventing them from doing any business in China and prohibiting their executives from entering or living in the country.


Chinese authorities have taken similar -- albeit narrower -- actions in the past on these companies, most of which have a limited presence within China, said Andrew Gilholm, a China expert at consulting firm Control Risks.

"Most of this is probably at the symbolic level because so many of these entities were already subject to sanctions," he said. But, he added, "what we're seeing is the widening scope and number of entities being added in a single listing."

Among the companies called out by China were the leading American makers of defense systems, including Raytheon Missile Systems; Boeing Defense, Space and Security; and Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control. The companies did not immediately respond to emailed requests for comment.

Michael Hart, president of the American Chamber of Commerce in China, said Chinese authorities have generally been careful not to take action that directly affected the business of companies on the ground.

"Normally the actions China takes do not impact companies who are benefiting China's economy," Hart said.

Beijing has adopted an increasingly aggressive stance as it prepares for a second presidential term with Trump, an outspoken critic of China and its economic might.

Chinese regulators have announced an investigation into American computer chip company Nvidia, banned the export of rare minerals to the United States and have taken more targeted swipes at individual companies to expose their supply chain vulnerabilities.

The steps are part of an economic tit-for-tat that has escalated in recent months. It began during Trump's first term, after he took aim at China with tariffs and restrictions on trade. At that time, Beijing took mostly symbolic and measured responses in retaliation.

Since then, the Biden administration has also expanded its restrictions on Chinese companies and imposed bans on dual-use products, recently targeting 140 Chinese companies. On Thursday, the administration said it was considering a new rule that could restrict or ban Chinese drones in the United States.

In recent years, China has laid the legal groundwork to mirror Washington's tactics, creating blacklists and sanctions that can cut American companies off from critical resources. Beijing is now showing a greater willingness to take action, Gilholm said.

"The pace of things are picking up," he said. "The drumbeat of these things is going to be more frequent."