US Withdraws List of Chinese Firms Linked to Military
By Reuters | 13 Feb, 2026

The list filled with China's top tech companies was withdrawn an hour after it was posted, suggesting efforts to maintain a workable trade truce with Beijing.

The U.S. withdrew an updated list of Chinese firms allegedly aiding Beijing's military shortly after it was posted on Friday with the addition of some of China's biggest tech companies, including Alibaba and Baidu.

The document -- posted for about an hour -- had also removed China's top memory chipmakers CXMT and YMTC from the list, drawing fire from China hawks in Washington who fear the firms' growing chipmaking expertise could help supercharge China's military.

"An agency letter requesting withdrawal of this document was received after placement on public inspection," the Federal Register posted in an editorial note, without providing a reason. 

The Pentagon and the WHite House did not respond to requests for comment. 

"Hopefully, (The Pentagon) pulled the document because removing CXMT and YMTC was an error," said Chris McGuire, a former White House National Security Council official under President Joe Biden, who said that would only make sense, given the addition to the list of many other companies critical to the Chinese AI stack, like Alibaba and Baidu. 

Other additions on the withdrawn Friday document included automaker BYD, biotech firm WuXi AppTec and AI-driven robotics technology company RoboSense Technology Co Ltd.

The publication and hasty withdrawal of the list comes as the Trump administration has sought to avoid antagonizing Beijing following a trade truce reached by China's Xi Jinping and U.S. President Donald Trump in October.

Since then, the administration has taken a softer line on Beijing, giving Nvidia a greenlight to export its second most advanced AI chips to China and postponing a rule that would have barred thousands of Chinese firms from buying U.S. technology. 

On Thursday, Reuters reported it had shelved a number of national security measures aimed at Beijing, including a ban on China Telecom's U.S. operations and restrictions on sales of Chinese equipment for U.S. data centers. 

Trump is expected to travel to China in April, though dates for the visit have yet to be set. 

 Though the Pentagon list does not formally impose sanctions on Chinese firms, under a new law, the department will be prevented in coming years from contracting and procuring from companies on the list.

 Being added to the list also sends a message to Pentagon suppliers and other U.S. government agencies about the U.S. military's opinion of the firms, some of which have sued the U.S. over their inclusion.

An Alibaba spokesperson said there was no basis for its inclusion and threatened legal action. "Alibaba is not a Chinese military company nor part of any military-civil fusion strategy."

The list already includes major Chinese firms such as Tencent Holdings, one of China's largest tech companies, and CATL, a major battery maker in the electric vehicle industry.

(Reporting by Michael Martina and Alexandra Alper; editing by Philippa Fletcher, Nick Zieminski, William Maclean and Chizu Nomiyama)