The White House and the Chinese embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The additions would bring the number of Chinese companies affected to 35. The growing defence department list will likely add to tensions between the world’s two largest economies, which have been at loggerheads over the coronavirus and China's crackdown on Hong Kong. Congress and the administration have sought increasingly to curb the US market access of Chinese companies that do not comply with rules faced by American rivals, even if that means antagonising Wall Street. In August, US Securities and Exchange Commission and Treasury officials urged Trump to delist Chinese companies that trade on US exchanges and fail to meet its auditing requirements by January 2022.

Source: bd News24 November 20, 2020 23:26 UTC