The Biden administration Friday added six Chinese entities connected to Beijing's suspected surveillance balloon program to an export blacklist.
The new restrictions came after the White House said it would consider broader efforts to "expose and address" China's larger surveillance activities that threaten U.S. national security and allies.
The Commerce Department said the five companies and one research institute were supporting "China's military modernization efforts, specifically the People's Liberation Army's (PLA) aerospace programs including airships and balloons."
The spectacle of the Chinese balloon drifting over the United States last week caused political outrage in Washington and brought into sharp focus the challenge that China poses to the United States and its allies.
It prompted Secretary of State Antony Blinken to cancel a trip to Beijing that both countries had hoped would patch up frayed relations.
Being added to the entity list makes it hard for targeted companies to obtain U.S. tech exports. Both U.S. President Joe Biden and his predecessor Donald Trump have used the list to punish Chinese companies viewed as a threat to national security and to keep Beijing from advancing militarily.
"Today's action demonstrates our concerted efforts to identify and disrupt the PRC’s use of surveillance balloons, which have violated the airspace of the United States and more than 40 countries,” said Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Export Enforcement Matthew Axelrod.
Two of the entities listed were Beijing Nanjiang Aerospace Technology and China Electronics Technology Group Corporation 48th Research Institute.
The Biden administration also added Dongguan Lingkong Remote Sensing Technology, Eagles Men Aviation Science and Technology Group, Guangzhou Tian-Hai-Xiang Aviation Technology and Shanxi Eagles Men Aviation Science and Technology Group.
The Chinese Embassy in Washington, Guangzhou Tian-Hai-Xiang Aviation Technology and China Electronics Technology Group Corporation 48th Research Institute did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Beijing Nanjiang, Dongguan, Eagles Men Aviation Science and Technology Group, and Shanxi Eagles Men Aviation Science and Technology Group could not be reached.
Washington has said it was confident the manufacturer of the Chinese balloon, which the U.S. military shot down last weekend off the U.S. east coast, has a "direct relationship" with the PLA.
The U.S. Air Force downed the balloon off South Carolina on Saturday, a week after it entered U.S. airspace. China's foreign ministry has said it was a weather balloon that had blown off course, and it accused the United States of overreacting.
