China Threatens Sweeping Blacklist of Firms After Huawei Ban

China said it will establish a list of so-called “unreliable" entities it says damage the interests of domestic companies, according to Bloomberg. That order that could potentially affect thousands of foreign firms as tensions escalate after the U.S. blacklisted Huawei.

China will set up a mechanism listing foreign enterprises, organizations and individuals that don’t obey market rules, violate contracts and block, cut off supply for non-commercial reasons or severely damage the legitimate interests of Chinese companies, Ministry of Commerce spokesman Gao Feng said. "Necessary measures will be taken" against those on the list, he said, adding that specifics would be released soon.

The vague wording of the Chinese state media report opens the door for Beijing to target a broad swathe of the global tech industry from U.S., giants like Google, Qualcomm and Intel, to even non-American suppliers that have cut off China’s largest technology company. Those run the gamut from Japan’s Toshiba to Britain’s Arm.

The tariff conflict is set to ratchet up this weekend as the U.S. locks down higher duties on about $200 billion of goods arriving from China and Beijing implements its own retaliation. Talks between the two sides stalled after U.S. President Donald Trump accused China of backsliding on a deal and Chinese officials argued that the Americans raised their demands.

The list will also target companies that "pose a threat or potential threat to national security," the Commerce Ministry’s Gao said. China is setting up the list "to protect international economic and trade rules and the multilateral trading system, to oppose unilateralism and trade protectionism, and to safeguard China’s national security, social and public interests," he said.

Chinese state media has floated other potential retaliatory measures in recent days. Bloomberg reported that Beijing has readied a plan to restrict exports of rare earths to the U.S. if needed, according to people familiar with the matter. The measures would likely focus on heavy rare earths, a sub-group of the materials where the U.S. is particularly reliant on China.