Last month, the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) at the Commerce Department added thirteen Chinese companies to its "unverified list," but one of these companies, Plexus (Xiamen) Co., Ltd., was able to get itself removed from that list.

At today's press conference, the spokesperson for China's Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) commented on recent developments in trade relations with Taiwan, the anti-dumping investigation on EU brandy, and Western export controls on semiconductor equipment.

On December 21, China's Ministry of Commerce and Ministry of Science and Technology released an updated control list of technologies for which exports are banned or subject to licensing requirements, covering technologies related to rare earth, laser radar, drones, and cybersecurity.

U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) sent a letter to Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo arguing that the Biden administration should blacklist Chinese company Brite Semiconductor and "tighten its inadequate export controls on American chip-design software."

Congresswoman Elise Stefanik (R-NY), Congressman Jimmy Panetta (D-CA), Senator Joni Ernst (R-IA), Chairman of the Select Committee on China Mike Gallagher (R-WI) and a number of colleagues wrote to Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin "demanding oversight into" the Defense Department's "role in allowing U.S.

At a press conference today, MOFCOM spokesperson Shu Jueting provided comments on export licensing for graphite, Italy's official withdrawal from the Belt and Road Initiative, the state visit to Vietnam, and November trade data.

In two recent conversations, U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and Under Secretary of Commerce for Industry and Security Alan Estevez offered some explanations of how they see the role of U.S. export controls in denying China access to U.S. technology.