The administration of US President Donald Trump is expected to soon announce new sanctions against a series of Chinese companies.
Trump wants to tighten China’s reliance on American components and technology.
According to exclusive information collected by Reuters, the Trump administration is about to punish an additional 89 Chinese companies with links to the military. These companies will be restricted from buying American goods and technology.
In contrast, US suppliers must obtain a license to sell a range of commercially available items to these companies. Such licensing applications are more likely to be rejected.
The move is expected to continue to increase US-China trade tensions, possibly causing US companies to lose contracts to sell civilian aviation parts and other components to Chinese companies.
The list of Chinese companies being blacklisted this time includes China Commercial Aircraft Corporation (COMAC) and China Aviation Industry Corporation (AVIC) and 10 subsidiaries. COMAC is thriving in China, aiming to be on par with Boeing and Airbus.
The above list is considered a move to expand the concept of “threaten US national security interests”. Threats come not only from the Chinese military and police, but also any person or organization that assists or contributes to the maintenance or manufacture of military items, even during economic activity. business is mainly civil.
The list comes at a sensitive period, as Boeing is trying to persuade China to lift its flight ban on its 737 MAX family, after a disastrous disaster in March 2019.
This is considered the latest effort of President Donald Trump to increase sanctions on China, in the last months of his term. Ten days ago, Mr. Trump signed an executive order that prohibited American companies from investing in Chinese companies with military ties.
Kevin Wolf, a Washington commerce attorney and former Commerce Department official, said the information was supposed to be kept private. “This list is preliminary and may still be revised. Mr Trump is rushing to issue new sanctions because it will take more time until the decree officially takes effect, “Wolf said.
In addition to 89 Chinese companies, the list also includes 28 Russian companies, including Irkut. This unit is aiming to enter the market of Boeing with the development of jet aircraft MC-21.