Beijing Unleashes Largest-Scale Countermeasures, Testing Ceasefire Bottom Line Ahead of Xi's Visit to the U.S.
Claire Weston
China's Commerce Ministry on August 6 unveiled its largest batch of counter-measures against the US since last October's ceasefire, spanning entity sanctions, drone export controls, and compliance restrictions — widely read as bargaining-chip accumulation before Xi Jinping's expected September visit to Washington.
What cards did Beijing play this round?
Three simultaneous moves: seven US firms and institutions added to the Unreliable Entity List; case-by-case review imposed on drone and dual-use tech exports to the US, revoking license conveniences; and a ban on Chinese companies cooperating with US compliance-certification bodies.
Six of the listed entities were sanctioned over Xinjiang-related restrictions. The seventh is an Arizona-based compliance-testing firm — penalized for helping the FCC restrict Chinese products.
This means → Beijing for the first time targeted "the middlemen who help enforce US sanctions." Eurasia Group calls this a move with "significant implications" for US firms operating in China.
Why is Beijing copying Washington's playbook?
BNP Paribas analyst William Bratton says Beijing is "replicating" Washington's logic of restricting China's access to Western technology — but in reverse: constraining the flow of Chinese products and tech to the US.
Chinese authorities simultaneously launched the first-ever national-security probe in the foreign-trade domain, targeting imported printers and copiers running foreign software.
In plain terms = Washington uses "national security" to block Chinese products at the door. Now Beijing is applying the same yardstick to American products — and once this mechanism is proven, it can be extended to any sector.
Will these measures stick, or are they pre-summit props?
Peter Alexander, founder of Shanghai consultancy Z-Ben Advisors, told CNBC that both sides are looking for new pressure points to "trade" at the summit. He expects most measures to be "defused" by then.
Eurasia Group's framing is sharper: "Raising compliance costs for US firms ahead of negotiations while keeping the measures reversible."
This reflects Beijing's design logic: hit hard enough to create bargaining value, but not so hard the damage can't be undone — a reversible punch is a negotiating chip; an irreversible one is an escalation.
Could the ceasefire actually collapse?
Beijing's statement cited a string of recent US actions: FCC restrictions on Chinese imports, bans on new drones and power routers, and the addition of over 40 Chinese companies to a sanctions list the day after top US-China trade negotiators finished a new round of talks.
Beijing called these moves a "serious violation" of the leaders' consensus — framing its own retaliation within a legitimacy narrative.
Eurasia Group warns that more aggressive US steps — such as restricting Chinese open-source AI models or cutting off Chinese firms' chip access via cloud services — would put the existing ceasefire at risk of collapse. Xi's visit is still on track, but Washington's next move is the variable that decides whether the summit happens on schedule.
Content is for reference only, not financial advice.