It seems that the trade war between China and the United States isn’t slowing down. In a new development, US President Joe Biden has signed an executive order that bans companies based in the United States from investing in Chinese companies.

The list includes dozens of Chinese companies with alleged ties to the defense or surveillance technology sectors. This new order basically expands the scope of the legally flawed move by the Trump administrator.

The US Treasury Department will enforce and update a list of companies on “rolling basis” which currently includes about 59 companies. The orders bars buying or selling publicly traded securities in target companies. It also prevents U.S. investment from supporting the Chinese military-industrial complex, as well as military, intelligence, and security research and development programs.

Treasury Department would give guidance later on what the scope of surveillance technology means, including whether companies are facilitating “repression or serious human rights abuses.”

Major Chinese firms included on the previous Defense Department list were also placed on the updated list, including Aviation Industry Corp of China (AVIC), China Mobile Communications Group, China National Offshore Oil Corp (CNOOC), Hangzhou Hikvision Digital Technology Co Ltd, Huawei Technologies Ltd, and Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC).

The move is being viewed as a part of Biden’s broader series of steps to counter China, including reinforcing U.S. alliances and pursuing large domestic investments to bolster American economic competitiveness.

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