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  • February 18, 2025
The US imposes trade restrictions on two Chinese companies over human rights concerns

The US imposes trade restrictions on two Chinese companies over human rights concerns

WASHINGTON – The United States on Tuesday added two Chinese companies to a list of trade restrictions for allegedly enabling human rights abuses, as President Joe Biden continued to increase pressure on Beijing in the waning days of his administration.

The Commerce Department, which oversees export policy, added

Zhejiang Uniview Technologies Co., Ltd. added to the Entity List “because it enables human rights abuses, including high-tech surveillance targeting the general population, Uyghurs, and members of other ethnic and religious minority groups,” the agency said in a filing.

China’s Beijing Zhongdun Security Technology Group Co., Ltd. was added for selling products that “enable China’s public security organization to commit human rights violations.”

Uniview did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Beijing Zhongdun Security could not be reached for comment.

The United States has used the entity list in recent years to punish Chinese companies it accuses of aiding China’s repression of Uyghurs and other minority groups, including Chinese video surveillance company Hikvision in 2019.

Adding to the Entity List forces U.S. suppliers of the targeted company to obtain a difficult-to-obtain license before shipping to them. Six other entities in Russia and Myanmar were added on Tuesday. REUTERS