China has imposed export controls on 10 US companies involved in defense and rare-earth mining, in response to Washington’s recent expansion of its blacklist targeting Chinese firms, Beijing announced Monday.
This action follows US President Donald Trump’s visit to Beijing last month, where he and President Xi Jinping discussed ways to ease tensions. While both sides agreed to pursue tariff reductions, relations have remained strained as each country takes steps to restrict the other’s technology and defense sectors.
Earlier this month, Washington added 80 more companies and their subsidiaries to its blacklist, accusing them of supporting the Chinese military. The updated list includes tech giants Alibaba and Baidu, as well as electric vehicle manufacturer BYD, sparking Beijing’s threat of retaliation.
China’s Ministry of Commerce described the new export controls as a direct response to what it called the US’s “egregious act” of expanding its so-called ‘Chinese military enterprise list’, and as a measure to protect national security.
The ten targeted US entities include Aveox, an aerospace defense contractor, and Oshkosh Defense, a producer of military vehicles, as well as rare earths producers MP Materials and USA Rare Earth. Chinese exporters are now barred from supplying dual-use items to these entities, and any ongoing shipments must cease immediately.
The ban also extends to any organizations or individuals worldwide who transfer Chinese-made dual-use goods to these companies.
At the same time, China’s finance ministry announced a ban on public procurement agencies purchasing products from 46 US firms, including Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, and Boeing’s defense division.
The list also names divisions of General Dynamics, Anduril Industries, and other major US military contractors and aerospace companies. However, firms with US investments operating within China are exempt from the new restrictions, which took effect Monday.
Many of the affected companies and their subsidiaries had already faced Chinese sanctions in 2024 and 2025, largely in response to US arms sales to Taiwan. Taipei continues to rely on Washington’s military support to counter growing pressure from Beijing, which considers Taiwan part of its territory and has not ruled out using force to assert its claim.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said this month that a proposed $14 billion arms package for Taiwan is under review. Since his meeting with Xi in May, Trump has sought to project an image of stable US-China relations, even thanking the Chinese leader at last week’s G7 summit in France for maintaining neutrality in the US conflict with Iran, as both countries agreed to an initial ceasefire.
Source: AFP
