ISLAMABAD: In a new escalation of trade tensions between the two largest global economies, China on Thursday imposed export restrictions on 28 US companies and blacklisted 10 others, prohibiting them from conducting business within its borders, the VOA reported.
Defence contracting firms
The larger group of companies is made up primarily of firms active in defence contracting and includes Lockheed Martin and five of its subsidiaries; General Dynamics and three of its subsidiaries; three subsidiaries of Raytheon; one subsidiary of Boeing; and more than a dozen other companies.
Chinese companies are immediately barred from selling “dual-use” items — goods that may have a military purpose in addition to civilian applications — to any of the named companies.
In an announcement, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce said the sanctions were put in place “in order to safeguard national security … interests and fulfill international obligations such as non-proliferation.”
“Unreliable entities”
In a second announcement, the Ministry of Commerce added 10 of the companies from the first announcement, all subsidiaries of Lockheed Martin, General Dynamics and Raytheon, to its list of “unreliable entities,” a designation that entails a much stricter set of sanctions.
The companies are prohibited from importing or exporting goods to and from China and from making new investments there. In addition, executives of the companies are barred from traveling to China, and any work or residency permits they currently have are revoked.
The Ministry of Commerce said that all of the companies designated as unreliable have sold arms to Taiwan. It said the new restrictions were meant to “safeguard national sovereignty, security and development interests.”
The additions to the unreliable entities list come just a week after Beijing, on December 27, announced an earlier round of sanctions targeting US firms and their executives for selling arms to Taiwan. The companies named included subsidiaries of Raytheon and Boeing, the VOA reported.
According to the company’s website, Lockheed Martin is a global defence tech company and posted net sales of $67.6 billion in 2023. According to the company’s website, General Dynamics is a global aerospace and defence company that deals from Gulfstream business jets and combat vehicles to nuclear-powered submarines and communications systems.
