US adds 6 companies to trade restriction list

The United States added six companies to its trade restriction list today, including four for their links to the training of China’s military forces.

Two of the companies are in China, one in South Africa, two in the United Arab Emirates and one in the United Kingdom.

Global Training Solutions Limited and Smartech Future Limited, both in China, as well as Grace Air Ltd and Livingston Aerospace Limited of the United Kingdom, were added because of their ties to the Test Flying Academy of South Africa and the training of China’s military forces using Western and North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) sources.

The Test Flying Academy of South Africa was added to the list, known as the Entity List, last year for training Chinese military pilots using Western and NATO sources.

“This activity is contrary to the national security and foreign policy interests of the United States,” the posting said.

UAE companies Mega Fast Cargo and Mega Technique General Trading were added for evasive conduct, and for Mega Fast Cargo’s shipping US-origin goods to Russia, it said.

Companies on the Entity List require licenses to ship US goods and technology to them, which are likely to be denied by the US Commerce Department.

The companies could not immediately be reached for comment.

The Commerce Department also added 13 companies to its Unverified List, including eight from China, because US export control officers could not complete on-site visits to determine whether they could be trusted to receive US origin technologyand other goods.

US exporters are required to conduct additional due diligence before sending items to companies on the Unverified List, and may have to apply for more licenses.

At the same time, the department removed eight companies from the Unverified List, including six from China, one from the United Arab Emirates and one from Russia.

Both the Entity List and Unverified List are tools the US is using to stop sensitive American goods and technology from falling into the wrong hands.