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The U.S. Department of Commerce is adding 36 Chinese high-tech companies, including makers of aviation equipment, chemicals and computer chips, to an export controls blacklist, citing concerns over national security, U.S. interests and human rights.
The inclusion of the companies in the trade “Entity List” means that export licenses will likely be denied for any U.S. company trying to do business with them. In some cases, companies based in other countries are also required to comply with the requirements to prevent technologies from being diverted to uses banned under the export controls.
The move signals a hardening of U.S. efforts to prevent China, especially its military, from acquiring advanced technologies such as leading edge computer chips and hypersonic weapons. It’s the latest in a years-long escalation of U.S. restrictions of Chinese technology that began with President Donald Trump and has continued under President Joe Biden’s administration.
At the same time, the Biden administration has been moving to beef up American manufacturing capabilities for semiconductors and other advanced technologies.
The changes to the Commerce Department’s entity list were entered in the Federal Register, scheduled for publication Friday.
Yangtze Memory Technology Co., a computer chip maker based in the central city of Wuhan, and its Japan unit were included in the list for “posing a significant risk of becoming involved in activities contrary to the national security or foreign policy interests of the United States,“ according to the document.
