Commerce bans Chinese firms from exporting sensitive US technology

The Commerce Department on Monday announced that it is banning six Chinese firms from exporting sensitive U.S. technologies, accusing the companies of attempting to procure commodities from the U.S. to aid groups in Iran and China. 

The department said it is placing the six companies on its banned “Entity List,” alongside one Pakistani company and five people from the United Arab Emirates. 

{mosads}The companies and people will no longer be able to export “sensitive” U.S. technologies. 

Four of the Chinese firms are being accused of attempting to procure commodities from the U.S. to support Iran’s weapons of mass destruction and military programs, a violation of U.S. export rules.

And the other two Chinese companies allegedly helped facilitate the delivery of controlled technology to groups affiliated with China’s armed forces, according to the Commerce Department. 

“We are putting individuals, businesses, and organizations across the world on notice that they will be held accountable for supporting Iran’s WMD [weapons of mass destruction] activities and other illicit schemes,” Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross said in a statement. “Moreover, we cannot allow China’s civil-military integration strategy to undermine U.S. national security through prohibited technology transfer plots orchestrated by state actors.”

The bans come as the U.S. and China have intensified their trade war with new rounds of tariffs. Trade talks broke down last week without a deal between the world’s two largest economies.

The move also comes as the U.S. ramps up an aggressive strategy against Iran. 

The banned Chinese entities include Avin Electronics Technology Co. Ltd., Longkui Qu, Multi-Mart Electronics Technology, Taizhou CBM-Future New Material Science, Tenco Technology and others.