Trade war continues: China to release its ‘blacklist’ of ‘unreliable’ foreign firms soon

Beijing, China – The Commerce Ministry announced on June 6 (Thursday) that it will soon release the list of “unreliable” foreign firms, although no specified date was provided.

Suspected to be a retaliative move to the US Commerce Department’s “entity list” released last month – which included the banning of Chinese tech giant Huawei and numerous other companies for national security purposes – China’s list will only target those that break the law.

According to a Commerce Ministry spokesman, Gao Feng, “Those companies that follow market rules have nothing to worry about.”

“Foreign enterprises, organisations and individuals that do not comply with market rules, violate the spirit of contract, block or cut supplies to Chinese firms with non-commercial purposes, and seriously damage the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese enterprises, will be added to the list of unreliable entities,” said Gao.

“The Chinese government is carrying out the necessary procedures, and specific measures will be announced in the near future,” added Gao, who mentioned that the list is currently being drawn up and will be disclosed soon.

Although China’s list will not target a specific industry or company, Chinese law experts and analysts expect the US and international firms that have broken off their partnership with Huawei will be the first on the list, reported asiaone.

Due to the continuing trade tensions between China and the US, more tariffs were imposed on each other’s goods worth US$360 billion (S$491.6 billion).

“If the US obstinately continues to escalate trade frictions, China will take the necessary countermeasures and resolutely defend the interests of our nation and people,” noted Gao.

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