China slaps sanctions on 10 US companies in retaliation for blacklist of Chinese firms

China has slapped export controls on 10 United States companies involved in defence and rare earths mining.

The Chinese Ministry of Commerce said this in a statement on Monday.

The ministry stressed that the sanction is in response to Washington’s blacklist of Chinese firms.

This followed US President Donald Trump’s visit to Beijing, seeking to stabilise fraught relations during talks with Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping.

The two countries agreed to work towards reducing tariffs, but ties have since been tested as both sides stunt the other in tech and defence.

Recall that the US released a new blacklist this month of 80 companies and their subsidiaries, which it said were aiding the Chinese military.

That saw tech giants Alibaba and Baidu added, as well as electric vehicle giant BYD, prompting Beijing to threaten retaliation.

“These new export controls are in response to the US government’s egregious act of adding to its so-called ‘Chinese military enterprise list,” the statement said.

The 10 entities include Aveox, which holds aerospace defence contracts with the US military, and Oshkosh Defense, which produces military vehicle fleets.

It also listed US rare earths producers MP Materials and USA Rare Earth, among others.

China slaps sanctions on 10 US companies in retaliation for blacklist of Chinese firms