The Trump regime has made it a routine to attack China's economy and technology sector by adding Chinese-owned companies to the Commerce Department's export control "blacklist," but China's response to the regime's actions has been relatively subdued.
That may be about to change, however, as China's Ministry of Commerce says they're going to start blacklisting American companies.
China says they'll target firms that discriminate against Chinese companies.
It targets foreign firms and individuals violating normal market transactions in the country — interrupting deals with Chinese firms — or taking discriminatory measures against Chinese companies.
The list will help “safeguard national sovereignty, security and development interests, maintain a fair and free international economic and trade order, and protect the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese enterprises, other organizations or individuals”, the ministry said.
Firms that end up on the blacklist could be banned from investing in China or importing or exporting in China.
China's standards appear vague and arbitrary at first glance, but I can't fault them for that because the Trump regime's standards are vague and arbitrary. The regime has cited "national security" to impose all manner of vague regulations on private business over the past year, with Trump's personal intervention over TikTok just being the latest example, and China is now preparing to respond in kind.
We don't know which American companies will be blacklisted yet, but considering how large and important both Huawei and Bytdance (the parent company of TikTok) are, it's possible that American firms of equal size or value will be targeted.
If China were to blacklist Apple, for example, I would personally find it difficult to push back against that. One global technology firm for another, right? Tit for tat.
if it wasn't already clear, this is why we developed global standards for free trade and agreed to settle disputes at the World Trade Organization, at least until Trump entered the picture. The reason you have international standards and agreements is so two sides don't just make shit up like Trump has already done and China is about to do in response.
China is the largest consumer market in the world by population and losing access would be a much bigger deal for American companies than it is for Chinese companies that lose access to the United States.