WEB DESK

As trade war escalates with United State, China has announced that it would create a blacklist of “unreliable” foreign firms and individuals.

The move comes two weeks after Chinese tech giant Huawei was added to the US Commerce Department’s “entity list”. This cut it off from critical American-made components for its products, though a 90-day reprieve was issued.

After being added to the list, several US companies said they would cut off their business with Huawei. Foreign companies have also been left to analyse if the order applies to their business with Huawei.

The Chinese move to create its own “entity list” appears to be a way to pressure foreign companies to maintain commercial relations with Huawei.

The announcement of the list comes a day before China will increase tariffs on 60 billion US dollars (USD) in American goods. This itself had come in retaliation to Trump’s decision to hike punitive duties on USD 200 billion in Chinese products earlier this month.