A group of nine US lawmakers sent a letter to US Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth this week urging the Pentagon to add a slew of Chinese technology firms to a list of entities allegedly assisting the Chinese military.
The letter, sent late on Thursday after US President Donald Trump signed a US$1 trillion must-pass military spending bill into law, asks Hegseth to place AI firm DeepSeek, smartphone maker Xiaomi and electronic display maker BOE Technology Group on what is known as the Section 1260H list.
That list already includes major Chinese firms such as Tencent Holdings, one of China’s largest tech companies, and CATL, a major battery maker in the electric vehicle industry.
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While the 1260H list does not formally sanction Chinese firms, it sends a message to suppliers to the Defence Department and other US government agencies about the US military’s opinion of the firms, some of which have sued the US over their inclusion.
Trump has ordered the Defence Department to rename itself the Department of War, a change that will require action by Congress.
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Does the arrival of China’s low-cost DeepSeek mean the end of Nvidia’s chip dominance?
Does the arrival of China’s low-cost DeepSeek mean the end of Nvidia’s chip dominance?
A senior US official said in June that DeepSeek aided China’s military and evaded US export controls.