On Wednesday the Financial Times reported that the Trump administration is barring some U.S. hi-tech companies from selling semiconductor and aircraft technology design software to China.
Companies affected by the new regulations include Cadence, Synopsys and Siemens EDA. The New York Times later reported on the same day that exports of jet engine technologies and some chemicals were also suspended.
The Commerce Department said it was reviewing strategically important exports to China. A spokesman declared that in some cases the agency has suspended existing export licenses or imposed additional requirements pending the review.
The move may be the latest blow in the ongoing trade war between the world’s two largest economic powers. After a meeting in Geneva between Chinese government officials and Trump administration officials earlier this month, the United States reduced tariffs on products from China, from 145 percent to 30 percent. Meanwhile, China reduced duties on U.S. products from 125% to 10%.
The “truce” will expire in August and is intended to give both countries more time to negotiate a potentially long-term trade agreement. However, the possibility that the two powers could raise each other’s tariffs again is not ruled out.
In a statement released to CNN, Liu Pengyu, spokesman for the Chinese Embassy in the United States, said Beijing “firmly opposes the US’s overstretching the concept of national security, abusing export controls, and maliciously blocking and suppressing China.”
As explained by Pengyo himself, moreover, Beijing will “keep a close eye on relevant developments, and take resolute measures to firmly defend the legitimate and lawful rights and interests of Chinese companies”.
