China announces 'countermeasures' after US trade sanctions

BEIJING: China announced restrictions on drone exports to the United States and blacklisted six companies on Wednesday in response to trade sanctions imposed by Washington over forced labour and national security concerns.

The move comes days after the United States imposed fresh tariffs on China and 59 other countries, adding to a series of recent trade measures.

The US actions “seriously harm China’s legitimate rights and interests”, a commerce ministry spokesperson said in a statement.

“China can only take necessary countermeasures in response, including strengthening export controls on drones, and their key components and technology to the US.”

Beijing’s measures also include suspending factory follow-up inspections by Chinese certification bodies, blacklisting US compliance testing companies, and launching national security investigations into imports of office printers and copiers, according to the ministry.

It also imposed sanctions on six US businesses, including biotech company Applied DNA Sciences and geoscience research firm Stratum Reservoir, barring organisations and individuals within China from “engaging in relevant transactions, cooperation, or other activities with them”.

The six entities “have assisted and supported illegal US sanctions related to Xinjiang; the nature of their actions is egregious”, the commerce ministry said.

The UN has warned of possible crimes against humanity in Xinjiang region targeting the mostly Muslim Uyghur minority — accusations China vehemently denies.

China’s top trade official He Lifeng expressed “serious concern” to US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer in a call over the recent restrictions, state news agency Xinhua reported.

China also accused the United States last week of seeking to “suppress” Chinese companies, after Washington banned imports of humanoid and quadruped robots manufactured abroad in a move separate from the new tariffs.

China and the United States spent much of last year embroiled in an escalating trade war but reached a truce when US President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping met last October.

The latest US tariffs against China and other trade partners however have threatened that truce, with Beijing warning Washington against waging a trade war.