US adds Alibaba, BYD and Baidu to military blacklist

The Pentagon put Alibaba, BYD and Baidu back on its Chinese military companies list, pushing Washington’s economic-security campaign deeper into the heart of China’s commercial tech sector. The updated roster, posted June 8, also swept in firms outside the traditional defense world, including robotics, biotech and chip makers, and it targets companies that are not state-owned and are not usually seen as military suppliers.

The blacklist now covers 188 Chinese companies, up from roughly 130 last year, after the Defense Department revived names that briefly appeared in February before being withdrawn without explanation. Alongside Alibaba, BYD and Baidu, the update also kept or added companies such as Unitree, WuXi AppTec, RoboSense Technology, ChangXin Memory Technologies and Yangtze Memory Technologies, underscoring how far the U.S. is now willing to extend the list beyond conventional defense contractors.

The Pentagon’s public case rested on broad statutory language and selective corporate ties, not on a detailed public dossier for every company named. Its notice said Deputy Defense Secretary Stephen Feinberg determined that the listed entities qualify as Chinese military companies, provide commercial services or manufacturing, and operate directly or indirectly in the United States. For Alibaba, the department said the company is indirectly affiliated with the State-Owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission and is a military-civil fusion contributor because it is affiliated with China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. For BYD, the Pentagon said it is a military-civil fusion contributor because it is affiliated with the same ministry and with a military-civil fusion enterprise zone.

The practical consequences reach beyond symbolism. The designation blocks U.S. defense contracts and signals fresh risk to suppliers, lenders and investors who do business with listed firms. Under the 2024 defense spending law, the Pentagon is set to be barred from entering into or renewing direct contracts with listed entities beginning June 30, adding procurement pressure at the exact moment when Washington is trying to harden supply chains against Chinese leverage. The move also landed less than a month after President Donald Trump met Xi Jinping in Beijing, making the blacklist expansion another source of friction in an already fragile trade truce.