Chinese investment in the United States is the next target in the Trump crackdown

The Trump administration is expected to announce measures this week to clamp down on Chinese investments in key technologies in the United States.

This move is expected to exacerbate tensions in the intensive confrontation between Washington and Beijing.

US restrictions on Chinese investment in "industrial technologies" are largely fueled by US concerns about "Made in China 2025," Beijing's plan to boost industries such as robotics, electric cars and cars. ; aerospace. these areas.

The measures should include rules that would prohibit companies holding at least 25 percent Chinese ownership from buying companies involved in technologies deemed important by the White House, according to a report released Sunday by the Wall Street Newspaper. The limit on Chinese property could end up being even lower, he added.

It is not clear how the Trump administration will define what the technology is "industrially significant".

The Treasury Department, which sets the rules, and the White House did not return requests for comments outside of office hours.

Related: The Chinese investment in the United States fell 92% this year

The White House said earlier that the details of investment restrictions, as well as "enhanced export controls" limiting the Chinese acquisition of US technology, will be announced by the 30 June.

These steps are part of the same broad US move to confront Beijing's business practices as the $ 50 billion rights to Chinese products that the Trump administration detailed earlier this month. Beijing has pledged to retaliate against the tariffs, the first wave of which should come into force on July 6.

The US government says the wave of moves against China is a response to the theft of US intellectual property and the pressure American companies are letting on technology to Chinese companies to do business in the country. The Chinese authorities have repeatedly rejected the US allegations, accusing Washington of taking unilateral and protectionist measures.

Related: How China gets what it wants from American companies

The Wall Street Journal reported that investment restrictions could apply to transactions involving Chinese investors whose investors hold less than 25% "if the government determines that Chinese investors could get the technology through seats, licenses or other measures ".

The report said that the US industry would have the opportunity to comment on plans before the rules come into effect.

The Chinese Ministry of Commerce and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not immediately respond to requests for comments.

Experts and recent media reports say the Trump administration is likely to use an emergency law to impose investment restrictions on Chinese companies, citing reasons for national security .

The law, the 1977 International Emergency Economic Power Act, gives the president the power to take certain measures against another country during a "national emergency".

The crackdown on investment is likely to be disruptive, experts say.

"The United States has benefited immensely from an open investment regime," said Phil Levy, head of the global economy at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, at CNNMoney late last month. .

Related: China tries to put an end to its foreign technology habit

But the restrictions come at a time when Chinese investments are rapidly declining in the United States. It plunged more than 90% in the first five months of 2018 compared to the same period a year earlier, according to a report released last week by Rhodium Group, a research firm that tracks foreign investment Chinese.

Rhodium has linked the sharp decline to a more severe review of Chinese acquisitions by US regulators and China's own restrictions on foreign investment.

Under the Trump administration, China-backed agreements have been subjected to a more aggressive review by the US Foreign Investment Committee, or CFIUS, an inter-agency group chaired by the Treasury Department. The committee verifies certain agreements that could give a foreign investor control of a US company for national security risks.

In a highly publicized case, an attempt by China's online financial services company Ant Financial, a subsidiary of Ali Baba (BABA), to support the US money transfer service Moneygram (MGI) failed after failing to obtain CFIUS approval.

CFIUS is also ready to become even more powerful. Legislation that would extend the authority of CFIUS has bipartisan support in Congress and support from senior officials of the Trump administration.

– Julia Horowitz, Alessia Grunberger and Nanlin Fang contributed to this report.

CNNMoney (Hong Kong) First published on June 25, 2018: 12:08 ET