Trump to add China's SMIC and CNOOC to defense blacklist

AS-CHINA - WASHINGTON. The Trump administration plans to add China's top chipmaker SMIC and oil giant CNOOC to a blacklist of alleged Chinese military companies, escalating tensions with Beijing before President-elect Joe Biden takes office, according to sources familiar with the matter and a document seen by Reuters.

The Department of Defense (DOD) is poised to designate four more Chinese companies as owned or controlled by the Chinese military, bringing the total number to 35. A recent executive order issued by President Donald Trump would prevent U.S. investors from buying securities of the blacklisted firms starting late next year.

It was not immediately clear when the new additions to the blacklist would be published in the Federal Register, making the move official. But the list includes China Construction Technology Co Ltd and China International Engineering Consulting Corp, as well as Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC) and China National Offshore Oil Corp (CNOOC), according to the document seen by Reuters and four sources.

SMIC said it continued "to engage constructively and openly with the U.S. government" and that its products and services were solely for civilian and commercial use. "The Company has no relationship with the Chinese military and does not manufacture for any military end-users or end-uses," it said in a statement.

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Shares in SMIC closed 2.7% lower on Monday.

CNOOC's listed unit CNOOC Ltd, whose shares fell by almost 14% on Monday, said in a statement that it had checked with its parent and no formal notice from relevant U.S. authorities had been received.

Asked about Washington's planned move, China's foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said Beijing hoped the United States would not erect barriers and obstacles to cooperation and discriminate against Chinese companies.

Later on Monday, Bernstein Research downgraded CNOOC Ltd's stock to 'market perform' by applying a 30% discount to share price targets, citing sanction risks that range from a ban on U.S. funds owning CNOOC stock to prohibiting U.S. companies from doing business with CNOOC.

The DOD did not respond to a request for comment.