Description: The US Bureau of Industry Security (BIS) which falls under the US Department of Commerce, has reportedly withheld the blacklisting of more than a hundred Chinese companies, including Chinese AI startup, DeepSeek. The decision has reportedly arrived in order to ease trade tensions between the US and China which are interlocked into a global competition for technological, industrial and military dominance. The Entity List according to BIS, hasn’t been updated in more than a year due to the ongoing negotiations between the two governments while intermittent moves have been undertaken by both countries in the forms of limited restrictions. BIS’ entity list is primarily focused on Chinese technological companies and companies which are potentially providing support and assistance to the Chinese military.
Impact: The withholding of the decision to blacklist the Chinese companies highly likely fits the larger pattern of trade war posturing from the US and is aimed at drawing concessions from China, especially in Chinese dominated industrial sectors, such as rare earth elements. Both countries have recently imposed restrictions, added companies to sanctioned or blacklists as part of the trade war which are likely moves undertaken in order to gain a favorable trading position within the negotiations. The exclusion of new announcements on public meetings or continuation of the trade negotiations likely indicates that similar measures would continue to dominate the current state of the trade war since the Trump – Xi meeting in May failed to deliver any concrete results.