Trade sanctions placed on two dozen Chinese companies last week illustrate how the U.S. Commerce Department has been increasingly using its export blacklist as a tool to further U.S. foreign policy goals, government officials and policy observers say. But the Trump administration has increasingly cited national security as a rationale for restricting exports, international trade experts say. The surge coincides with a 2018 law that gave the Commerce Department the authorities to tighten exports of U.S. technology. The Commerce Department put the company, a behemoth in China’s Belt and Road initiative, on its blacklist last week. The Commerce Department issued new rules in May curbing Huawei’s access to foreign-made chips, which were broadened and finalized in mid-August.

Source: Wall Street Journal August 31, 2020 22:18 UTC