The United States has added 80 companies from various countries, including Pakistan, to its export blacklist.
According to foreign news agencies, the countries affected by this blacklist include Pakistan, China, Iran, the United Arab Emirates, and South Africa, with more than 50 Chinese companies being added to the list.
British media reports that 19 Pakistani companies are among those targeted by U.S. sanctions, while 4 companies each from the UAE and Iran are also included in the list.
One of the companies on the blacklist is China’s renowned cloud computing and big data service provider, Inspur Group, whose 6 subsidiaries have also been blacklisted. The U.S. Department of Commerce stated that these companies were involved in assisting the Chinese military in the development of supercomputers.
These sanctions have been imposed in an effort to prevent the advancement of China’s high-performance computing, quantum technologies, artificial intelligence, and hypersonic weapons programs. The U.S. Secretary of Commerce remarked that the U.S. will not allow rival nations to misuse American technology to enhance their military power.
The Chinese Embassy in the U.S. strongly opposed these measures, accusing the U.S. of using military issues as an excuse to politicize trade and technology matters and weaponize them.
The U.S. is also taking steps to prevent Iran from acquiring drones and other defense materials, aiming to limit Iran’s ballistic missile program and its unsafe nuclear activities.
