Pentagon blacklists Chinese chipmaker SMIC, oil producer CNOOC



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Aerial view of the Pentagon building photographed September 24, 2017.

Bill Clark | CQ-Roll Call Group | Getty Images

WASHINGTON – China’s largest chipmaker and domestic producer of offshore oil and gas was added to a blacklist of suspected Chinese military companies on Thursday, the Pentagon said in a statement the evening.

The Ministry of Defense has designated a total of four companies as owned or controlled by the People’s Liberation Army.

  • Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp.
  • China National Offshore Oil Corp.
  • China Construction Technology Co. Ltd.
  • China International Engineering Consulting Corp.

The four additional companies added on Thursday bring the total number of blacklisted companies to 35.

U.S. officials have long complained that Chinese companies are beholden to the People’s Republic of China and collect sensitive information on behalf of the People’s Liberation Army. The Chinese Communist Party has previously said it does not engage in industrial espionage.

The Chinese Embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment.

The move will likely worsen tensions between the world’s two largest economies and add to the list of pressing geopolitical issues that await President-elect Joe Biden.

In September, the Pentagon said it was holding discussions on whether the SMIC should be added to the Commerce Department’s list of entities, essentially preventing those companies from receiving specific products made in the United States. .

Read more: U.S. Sanctions Against SMIC Chipmaker Go To The Heart Of China’s Tech Ambitions

That same month, the US Department of Commerce informed some companies that they needed to obtain a license before supplying goods and services to the minimum wage after concluding that there was an “unacceptable risk” that the equipment supplied to it could be used for military purposes. The minimum wage relies heavily on American suppliers.

The minimum wage is seen as a major player in China’s efforts to boost its domestic semiconductor industry, an ambition that has been accelerated by the trade war between the United States and China. Imposing export controls on the minimum wage would have an impact on US companies that sell chip-making technology to Chinese manufacturers.

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