China Restricts Drone Exports and Blacklists US Companies
Beijing responded on August 5, 2026, to the latest US trade sanctions, further straining relations between the world's two largest economies.
Beijing responded on August 5, 2026, to the latest US trade sanctions, further straining relations between the world's two largest economies.
China's Ministry of Commerce announced on August 5, 2026, a series of countermeasures in response to trade sanctions imposed by Washington over forced labor and national security concerns. The measures include tightening export controls on drones and their key components to the United States, blacklisting six American companies, and suspending factory inspections by Chinese certification bodies.
The move came just days after the US imposed new tariffs on China and 59 other countries. A spokesperson for China's Ministry of Commerce stated that US actions "seriously harm China's legitimate rights and interests." "China can only take necessary countermeasures in response, including strengthening export controls on drones and their key components and technology to the US," the statement said, as reported by the Straits Times.
Beijing sanctioned six American companies, including biotech firm Applied DNA Sciences and geoscience research company Stratum Reservoir. Chinese authorities have prohibited organizations and individuals within China from "engaging in relevant transactions, cooperation, or other activities with them."
The Ministry of Commerce stated that these six entities "assisted and supported illegal US sanctions related to Xinjiang; the nature of their actions is despicable." The United Nations has warned of possible crimes against humanity in the Xinjiang region, targeting the predominantly Muslim Uyghur minority, allegations that China strongly denies.
China's top trade official, He Lifeng, expressed "serious concern" to US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer in a phone call about recent restrictions, state news agency Xinhua reported.
China and the US spent much of 2025 in an escalating trade war but reached a truce when US President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping met in October of that year. The latest US tariffs against China and other trading partners, however, have threatened that truce, with Beijing warning Washington not to start a trade war.
In addition to drone restrictions, Beijing also announced blacklisting US compliance testing companies and launching national security investigations into imports of office printers and photocopiers. Last week, China also accused the US of seeking to "suppress" Chinese companies, after Washington banned the import of humanoid and quadruped robots manufactured abroad, in a move separate from the new tariffs.
