Donald Trump has inflicted a final blow on China and its largest companies in his last days of office, imposing more restrictions and investment restrictions. Nine Chinese firms have been added to the Pentagon’s blacklist of alleged ties with the Chinese military, including phone maker Xiaomi.
Mr. Trump has taken action against a host of companies he believes are a security threat in recent months. China retaliated this week with a new law aimed at protecting its companies. Over the past few months, Mr. Trump has targeted Chinese technology companies, believing that they share personal data with Tiktok, Huawei, and WeChat with their government.
China brought new law to fight Trump’s sanctions, NYSE takes U-turn on Chinese telecom delisting, Trump bans Alipay, and seven other Chinese apps. The latest sanctions announced on Thursday affected China’s oil giants CNOOC and Xiaomi, making Apple the world’s third-largest smartphone maker in November.
The US Department of Commerce accused CNOOC of harassing and threatening offshore oil and gas exploration and extraction in the South China Sea.
The CNOOC, which is state-owned, acted as “a bully for the People’s Liberation Army to intimidate China’s neighbors”, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said. CNOOC will now join a blacklist, requiring firms to grant a special license before they can obtain exports of high-tech goods from US suppliers.
In the US, Xiaomi shares fell by 14% on Thursday, while on Friday, shares fell more than 11%. Many believe that Mr. Trump is the final link on Chinese companies before the inauguration of President Joe Biden on January 20.
We are also seeing updates from the US Treasury Department.” The US and China have been embroiled in a trade war since 2018, with several duties imposed on imports of each other’s goods.
According to a study by Oxford Economics, this trade war between the world’s two largest economies has caused an extreme loss of 245,000 American jobs. This study, commissioned by the US-China Business Council (USCBC), predicts that US GDP could fall well below $ 1.6tn (£ 1.2tn) over the next five years.
“China has projected about one-third of global growth over the next decade, so maintaining China’s access to the global success of US businesses is essential,” the study said.