The Trump administration blacklists 54 Chinese companies.

The Trump administration has expanded its trade blacklist against China, adding 80 companies and institutions, mostly Chinese, to the list aimed at restricting China's development in artificial intelligence, advanced computing, and military technology.

According to The New York Times on March 26, these measures primarily target Chinese companies and aim to hit major companies that purchase American chips from Nvidia, Intel, and AMD. The move also aims to close loopholes, long criticized by Trump administration officials, that have allowed Chinese companies to continue their technological development despite US restrictions.

Among the newly added companies to the list is Ningchang Information Technology, which was the focus of a 2024 New York Times investigation. The report revealed how some Chinese companies have been able to circumvent restrictions on advanced US chips for AI technology.

Ningchang is one of China's largest manufacturers of computer servers used for artificial intelligence and was founded by a group of former Shouguang executives. Shouguang supplied advanced computing technology to the Chinese military and developed a surveillance system for the Uyghurs in East Turkistan. In 2019, the United States placed Shouguang on an export ban list due to national security concerns.

According to a New York Times investigation, after Shouguang was banned by the United States, Nvidia, Intel, and Microsoft, long-time partners of Shouguang, quickly established ties with Ningchang.

According to available records, both Shouguang and Ningchang are affiliated with the Chinese Academy of Sciences, a major research institution developing core chip technology, and some of whose employees have been sanctioned by the US government on national security grounds. Ningchang has previously sold servers to universities housing national defense laboratories and to cybersecurity firms that collaborate with the military.

According to experts, the sanctions list is typically implemented based on the names and official addresses of companies, allowing companies to easily evade punitive measures using a variety of methods.

The list announced by the Trump administration on Tuesday includes 54 Chinese companies and institutions, in addition to more than 20 companies and institutions from Iran, Pakistan, South Africa, the United Arab Emirates, and Taiwan.