The US Department of Commerce claims units from BGI and Inspur pose a “significant risk” to aiding Beijing’s surveillance.
US President Joe Biden’s administration has blacklisted 37 companies, including units of Chinese genetics company BGI and Chinese cloud computing company Inspur, in a move that promises to further escalate tensions with Beijing.
The US Department of Commerce, which oversees export controls, added BGI Research and BGI Tech Solutions (Hong Kong) to the list over claims the entities posed a “significant risk” of contributing to Chinese government surveillance.
“The actions of these entities in relation to the collection and analysis of genetic data pose a significant risk of being distracted from China’s military programs,” it said.
Also listed was BGI’s forensic subsidiary, Forensics Genomics International.
The Commerce Department accused Inspur of acquiring and attempting to acquire US goods to aid China’s military modernization efforts.
The companies and the Chinese Embassy in Washington, DC did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Commerce added 26 more Chinese companies to the list, making it difficult for target companies to get shipments of US goods from suppliers.
The additions included several companies that Commerce said were supplying or attempting to supply a sanctioned company in Iran, as well as three firms in Russia, Belarus and Taiwan that contributed to the Moscow military.
The sanctions also targeted companies in China and Myanmar for human rights abuses and companies in China and Pakistan for contributing to worrying ballistic missile programs, including Pakistan’s.
“When we identify companies that pose a national security or foreign policy issue for the United States, we add them to the entity list to ensure we can review their transactions,” Assistant Secretary of Commerce Thea Kendler said in a statement.
The recent additions to the blacklist are likely to further escalate anger between Washington and Beijing, which have been locked in a technology war for years.
Tensions have been particularly high since the Biden administration shot down a suspected Chinese spy balloon that had crossed much of the United States last month.
“We cannot allow our adversaries to misuse and misuse technology to commit human rights abuses and other acts of oppression,” said Matthew Axelrod, deputy trade secretary for export enforcement.
“That’s why we’re committed to preventing bad actors from siphoning off our technology. We will take an all-tools approach to combating this threat.”
In 2020, the US Department of Commerce placed two entities of BGI Group, the world’s largest genomics company, on its economic blacklist over allegations that it conducted genetic analysis used to further the oppression of the Chinese Uyghur minority.
Beijing has denied wrongdoing. At the time, BGI rejected allegations of misconduct.
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