Further US Trade Restrictions and Export Controls Amidst Ongoing Trade War with China
On March 25, 2025, the US Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) added 80 entities from China, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), South Africa, Iran, Taiwan, and other countries to the Entity List for activities deemed contrary to US national security and foreign policy. This represents another measure in the ongoing trade war between the US and China.
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The measure aligns with the US' political objectives, as stated by U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick:
“Under the strong leadership of President Donald Trump, the Commerce Department is taking decisive action to protect America. We will not allow adversaries to exploit American technology to bolster their own militaries and threaten American lives.
We are committed to using every tool at the Department’s disposal to ensure our most advanced technologies stay out of the hands of those who seek to harm Americans. At the same time, we will continue to drive American innovation, ensuring that our nation’s economic strength remains unparalleled.”
As part of these measures, BIS aims to achieve the following objectives:
- Restrict the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) ability to acquire and develop high-performance and exascale computing capabilities, as well as quantum technologies, for military applications.
- Impede China’s development of its hypersonic weapons program.
- Prevent entities associated with the Test Flying Academy of South Africa (TFASA) from using US items to train Chinese military forces.
- Disrupt Iran’s procurement of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and related defence items.
- Impair the development of unsafeguarded nuclear activities and ballistic missile programs.
The revisions to the Entity List include the following additions:
- 12 entities (11 from China and 1 from Taiwan) are added for engaging in the development of advanced AI, supercomputers, and high-performance AI chips for China-based end-users with close ties to the country’s military-industrial complex.
- 13 entities, including under the destinations of China, are added for their contributions to unsafeguarded nuclear activities.
- 7 entities are added for contributions to ballistic missile programs.
- 27 Chinese entities are added for acquiring or attempting to acquire US-origin items in support of China’s military modernization. These entities have demonstrable ties to activities of concern, including the development of hypersonic weapons and the design and modelling of vehicles in hypersonic flight.
- 7 entities located in China are added for acquiring or attempting to acquire US-origin items in support of advancing the CCP’s quantum technology capabilities, presenting serious ramifications for US national security given the military applications of quantum technologies.
- 2 Chinese entities are added for selling products to parties on the Entity List, including Huawei and affiliated entity HiSilicon.
- 2 entities in Iran and China are added for attempting to procure US-origin items for Iran’s defense industry and unmanned aerial vehicle programs.
- 10 entities from China, South Africa, and the UAE are added due to their links to the Test Flying Academy of South Africa (TFASA) - a party added to the Entity List on June 12, 2023 - and the training of Chinese military forces using Western and NATO sources.