WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The Biden administration on Thursday added 14 Chinese companies to a red flag list, forcing U.S. exporters to conduct greater due diligence before shipping goods to them because U.S. officials have been unable to inspect the listed entities.
Being added to the list can potentially start a 60-day clock that could trigger much tougher penalties.
ECOM International and HK P&W Industry Co Ltd were among those added to the list. They and the Chinese Embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
“Enforcing our export controls is a crucial part of protecting American national security,” U.S. Deputy Secretary of Commerce Don Graves said in a statement following the announcement. “We are committed to using all of the tools at our disposal to establish how advanced US technology is being used around the globe.”
The United States has used restrictions on exports of U.S. goods as a key tool to thwart Beijing’s technological advances, ratcheting up tensions between the two countries.
The Commerce department, which oversees U.S. export controls, also added 18 other entities to the list from Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, Germany, Bulgaria, Canada, Indonesia, Israel, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia and Singapore.
(Reporting by Alexandra Alper and Karen Freifeld; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Jonathan Oatis)
