On 16 February 2023, the Ministry of Commerce of the People’s Republic of China (MOFCOM) announced measures to add Lockheed Martin Corporation and Raytheon Missiles & Defense to its Unreliable Entity List. It is the first time that the working mechanism set out under the Provisions on the Unreliable Entity List, which was enacted by MOFCOM on 9 September 2020, has been used to implement the Provisions. The measures come amid heightened tensions after the U.S. military shot down what it says was a Chinese spy balloon, and a day after Beijing warned of “countermeasures against relevant U.S. entities that undermine China’s sovereignty and security”.
MOFCOM has imposed the following five sanction measures on the two U.S. companies:
- prohibiting any import and export trade with China;
- prohibiting any new investment in China;
- refusing the entry into China of any senior management of the companies;
- cancelling the visas, work permits and residence permits of the senior management of the two companies; and
- imposing a fine that is double the contracted amounts of the military sales to Taiwan by the two companies since the enactment of the Provisions on the Unreliable Entity List and ordering the two companies to pay the fines within 15 days after the announcement to avoid being subject to additional fines.