WASHINGTON: The United States added dozens of Chinese companies, including the country's top chipmaker SMIC and Chinese drone manufacturer SZ DJI Technology Co Ltd, to a trade blacklist on Friday as US President Donald Trump's administration ramps up pressure on China in his final weeks in office.
Reuters first reported the addition of SMIC and dozens of additional companies eary Friday. The move is seen as the latest in Republican Trump's efforts to cement his tough-on-China legacy as part of lengthy fight between Washington and Beijing over trade and numerous economic issues.
The US Commerce Department said the action against SMIC "stems from China's military-civil fusion (MCF) doctrine and evidence of activities between SMIC and entities of concern in the Chinese military industrial complex."
The department also said it was adding the world's biggest drone company DJI to the list along with AGCU Scientech; China National Scientific Instruments and Materials, and Kuang-Chi Group for allegedly enabling "wide-scale human rights abuses within China through abusive genetic collection and analysis or high-technology surveillance."
The firms did not immediately comment.
Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said in a statement the department would "not allow advanced US technology to help build the military of an increasingly belligerent adversary."
Ross said the government would presumptively deny licenses to prevent SMIC from accessing technology to produce semiconductors at advanced technology levels: 10 nanometers or below. SMIC did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The designations by the Commerce Department include some entities in China that enable alleged human rights abuses and some helping it construct and militarize artificial islands in the South China Sea, the agency said.