USA blacklists dozens of Chinese companies, including SMIC, DJI

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – US President Donald Trump’s administration on Friday stepped up pressure on China in its final decision to suspend the country’s top chip maker SMIC. And the United States added dozens of Chinese companies to its trade blacklist, including Chinese drone maker SZ DJI Technol Co. Ltd. weeks Weeks in fees.

Reuters first reported on ERIC on Friday. And reported the addition of dozens of additional companies. The move is seen as the latest in Republican Trump’s efforts to limit his tough legacy on China, as part of a long-running feud between Washington and Beijing over trade and numerous economic issues.

U.S. The Commerce Department said that SMIC The action against “is evidence of the principle of China’s military-civilian integration (MCF) and activities between the SIMC and the concerned organizations in the Chinese military-industrial complex.”

The department also said it would add DJI, the world’s largest drone company, to the list along with AGCU Synatech; China National Scientific Instruments and Materials, and the Kuang-chi group “accused of being able to infringe human rights within China through abusive genetic collection and analysis or high-tech surveillance.”

The companies did not immediately comment.

Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said in a statement that the department would “help build an increasingly combative anti-military force.”

Ross said the government may deny lic licenses to prevent SMICs from accessing technological access to produce semiconductors at advanced technological levels: 10 nanometers or below.

In an address to the Asia Society on Friday, Chinese State Councilor Wang Yi, who is also the country’s foreign minister, noted the extensive list of US sanctions and called on Washington to end its “arbitrary repression” of Chinese companies.

The Commerce Department released a list of 77 companies and affiliates in the list of so-called entities, including 60 Chinese companies. Reuters previously reported that the division was adding about 80 companies, most of which were Chinese.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry said that if this was true, the blacklisting would be evidence of US oppression of Chinese companies and that Beijing would continue to take “necessary steps” to protect their rights.

“We urge the U.S. government to end its misconduct of uncontrolled repression of foreign companies,” ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin told a regular news conference in Beijing on Friday.

SMIC did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The agency said the appointments by the Commerce Department include some companies in China that enable alleged human rights violations and help build and militarize some artificial islands in the South China Sea.

It includes U.S. support for People’s Liberation Army programs. Organizations that receive items of origin and U.S. Companies and individuals involved in the theft of trade secrets were also mentioned.

Companies that have been added to the list earlier include telecom equipment giants Huawei Technologies Co and 150 affiliates, and ZTE Corp.

Frying Ties

Shares of Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp.’s SMIC fell 5.2% in Hong Kong on Friday, while the company’s Shanghai-listed shares fell 1.8%. Benchmark indices in both markets were less than 1%.

SMIC was already in the crosshairs of Washington.

In September, the Commerce Department assumed that there was an “unacceptable risk” to the company after it was concluded that certain equipment suppliers applied for export licenses and that the equipment supplied to it could be used for military purposes.

Last month, the Department of Defense effectively banned U.S. investors from launching its shares later next year, adding the company to a blacklist of alleged Chinese military companies.

SMIC It is often said that it has nothing to do with the Chinese military.

Before a U.S. supplier sends a key item, part of the administration’s bid to curb its curb access to U.S. chipmaking technology, the unit list designation will force SMIC to obtain a special license from the Department of Commerce.

The Commerce Department has included about a dozen SMICs in the entity list. Added affiliate companies.

S.I.M.C. Is the largest Chinese chip manufacturer but it is Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., a market leader in the industry. It has sought to build a foundry for computer chips that can compete with TSMC.

Relations between Washington and Beijing have been strained by Beijing’s coronavirus outbreak, the imposition of a national security law in Hong Kong and rising tensions in the South China Sea, leading to the collapse of two of the world’s top economies.