U.S. Expands Export Curbs on China, Targets Inspur and Quantum Tech Firms

The U.S. has added six subsidiaries of China’s leading cloud and big data firm, Inspur Group, to its export restriction list, aiming to block China’s military tech advancements. The Commerce Department cited these subsidiaries—five in China, one in Taiwan—for aiding the Chinese military’s supercomputing development. Inspur Group itself was blacklisted in 2023.

These firms are part of a broader move that added around 80 companies to the Entity List on Tuesday, over 50 of which are Chinese. Others are based in Taiwan, Iran, Pakistan, South Africa, and the UAE. The U.S. says the listings aim to curb China’s access to advanced AI, quantum technologies, high-performance computing, and hypersonic weapons capabilities.

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick stated the U.S. will prevent adversaries from using American tech to threaten national security. The Chinese embassy in Washington condemned the move, urging the U.S. to stop politicizing tech and trade under military pretexts.

The updated list also targets Iranian drone and missile tech development, as well as activities related to unsafeguarded nuclear efforts.

Notable Chinese firms added include Nettrix Information Industry Co, Suma Technology, and Suma-USI Electronics. These companies reportedly support China’s exascale supercomputing efforts and assist Sugon, a military-linked server manufacturer already on the Entity List since 2019.

Commerce official Jeffrey Kessler emphasized the action is designed to stop U.S. technology from being used in hostile military applications, including drones, quantum computing, and training systems for military aircraft.

Nvidia and AMD, previously questioned over dealings with Inspur, declined to comment. It remains unclear whether U.S. chipmakers have ceased supplying Inspur subsidiaries. The newly added companies could not be reached for comment.