China says opposed to latest U.S. rules against Huawei

BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s commerce ministry said on Sunday it is firmly opposed to the latest rules by the United States against Huawei and will take all necessary measures to safeguard Chinese firms’ rights and interests.

The ministry said in a statement that it urges the United States to immediately stop the wrong actions.

The Trump administration on Friday moved to block global chip supplies to blacklisted telecoms equipment company Huawei Technologies, spurring fears of Chinese retaliation and hammering shares of U.S. producers of chipmaking equipment. The new rule went into effect on Friday but would have a 120-day grace period.

China’s state-run newspaper Global Times, citing an unidentified source, reported that Beijing, in response to the new limits on Huawei, was ready to put U.S. companies on an “unreliable entity list” as part of the countermeasures.

Those countermeasures include launching investigations and imposing restrictions on U.S. companies such as Apple Inc (AAPL.O), Cisco Systems Inc (CSCO.O) and Qualcomm Inc (QCOM.O).

“The U.S. has utilized national power and used the so-called national security concern as an excuse, and abused export controls to continue to suppress some particular companies in other countries,” China’s commerce ministry said in today’s statement.