New US curbs slammed as act of bullying

The latest restrictions imposed by the United States on new models of foreign-produced power inverters and advanced robotic devices are less of a response to genuine security concerns and more of a politically driven attempt to blunt China's growing industrial edge, officials and experts said on Thursday.

The US is once again "overstretching the scope of national security" to impose restrictions that risk further fragmenting global industrial and supply chains, while shifting the economic costs onto US businesses and consumers without addressing the structural weaknesses in the country's own industrial competitiveness, they added.

"Despite repeated representations from China and the restraint it has exercised, the US Federal Communications Commission has continued to introduce and escalate restrictive measures, seriously harming China's legitimate trade interests and undermining the stability of China-US economic and trade relations," a spokesperson for the Ministry of Commerce said in a statement.

The remarks came after the FCC added foreign-produced power inverters and advanced robotic devices to its "Covered List" on Tuesday, effectively barring relevant new models from obtaining FCC equipment authorization and entering the US market.

The FCC said in a statement that the products were deemed to pose "an unacceptable risk to the national security of the US or the safety and security of US persons".

The ministry spokesperson said that the move harms others without benefiting the US, and it constitutes "a typical act of market distortion and unilateral bullying". Under the guise of nondiscrimination, the move actually discriminates against and suppresses Chinese companies and products, the spokesperson added.

Dai Mingfeng, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation, said the move underscores the widening scope of US security-based trade curbs, which have expanded from traditional telecommunications equipment to new energy and advanced manufacturing. He added that it is aimed at restricting market access for Chinese products and erecting new barriers for industrial competition.

Beijing has urged Washington to immediately revoke the move and stop its wrongful practices. "If the US insists on going its own way, China will take resolute countermeasures to safeguard its legitimate rights and interests," the spokesperson said.

Shipping sanctions

In a separate move on Wednesday, the US sanctioned 10 Chinese shipping companies based on the Chinese mainland and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, along with eight tankers, alleging that they had transported Iranian oil despite US restrictions.

The move freezes the companies' assets in the US and prohibits US companies and individuals from doing business with them.

Chen Jianwei, a researcher at the University of International Business and Economics in Beijing, said the measures were imposed under US domestic law, rather than a United Nations framework, raising long-standing concerns over the extraterritorial application of unilateral sanctions and their impact on normal international commerce. He added that China is capable of safeguarding the legitimate rights and interests of its shipping companies.

Contact the writers at zhangchenxu@chinadaily.com.cn