China to Create Blacklist of US Companies as Trade War Escalates

Move seen as retaliation for anti-Huawei measures

A trade war with China continues to escalate this week, and President Trump’s policy of singling out Chinese telecom Huawei to lobby against them worldwide is fueling what is likely to be China’s next retaliation, a “blacklist.”

According to Chinese Commerce Ministry officials, the blacklist will include foreign companies that violate the spirit of existing contracts, or stop supplying Chinese companies for “non-commercial purposes.” They will be labeled “unreliable entities.”

Though officials aren’t specifically saying this will be a list of exclusively US companies, it is likely to be predominantly that, and in particular companies being pushed by the US to take measures against Chinese partners in the name of the ongoing trade war.

While the trade war is broadly intended by the US to negotiate more favorable terms, something it has failed to do at any rate, the campaign against Huawei is an effort to try to give US firms a virtual monopoly on the upcoming global infrastructure investment in 5G communications.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.