China adds 15 US entities to export control list, exposing vulnerabilities

Entities barred from receiving dual-use items from China

China’s Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) announced this week that 15 US entities have been added to China’s export control list.

Effective immediately, the 15 entities are barred from receiving “dual-use” items from China.

Dual-use items refer to goods, technologies, or materials that can be used for both civilian and military purposes.

This includes a wide range of products, such as advanced materials (e.g., NdFeB magnets), components (e.g., motors and assemblies) or software with potential military applications.

As per the announcement, any ongoing export activities involving the companies below must cease immediately:

• Leidos
• Gibbs & Cox
• IP Video Market Info
• Global Ground Support
• Textron
• Ascent Vision Technologies
• AeroVironment
• Altavian
• Skydio
• Vision Systems International
• L3 Harris Maritime Services
• Xometry
• Sierra Nevada Corporation
• Teledyne FLIR Unmanned Ground Systems
• Kratos Unmanned Aerial Systems

Many of these companies are directly or indirectly involved in defense-related activities.

A significant subset focuses on unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) or related technologies.

Several companies produce systems that could be used for surveillance or intelligence gathering.

The commonality of the companies listed lies in their perceived role in bolstering US military or intelligence power, making them strategic pawns in the broader US-China rivalry.

This move is part of an ongoing tit-for-tat escalation in US-China trade and technology disputes. The listing of these companies is viewed as retaliation to US restrictions on Chinese firms (e.g., Huawei or entities on the US Entity List) and rising US import tariffs on Chinese goods.

Last week, we wrote about China’s tightening rare earth export controls and its ability to limit exports to specific companies and industries with surgical precision, as executed this week.

In January, we wrote about China’s share of supply-in-the-sky, highlighting the US advanced air mobility industry’s extremely high reliance on China for supplies across the mine-to-aircraft supply chain.

US mine-to-magnet supply chain is coming together

In the US, a rare earth mine-to-magnet supply chain is actively coming together via MP Materials, VAC Group, Noveon Magnetics and others, but the lack of a robust motor making midstream presents a crippling bottleneck that must be imminently addressed.

By virtue of its raison d’être, Corvex Systems most likely agrees. The company is one of few manufactures of drone motors in America, which it does “in partnership with domestic material suppliers” and is working to domesticate the American unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) supply chain.

According to Corvex, “motors are currently the single most vulnerable component of the UAV tech tree, with over 85% of the global supply manufactured overseas” (i.e., China).

“China has made it abundantly clear that they will arbitrarily deny the United States access to their UAV industry, and in fact have already done so multiple times. Impending trade relation restructuring by the Trump administration and planned escalations by the CCP against Taiwan guarantee that these restrictions will only continue to strangle America’s military and commercial objectives”, the company adds.

More on this topic at Rare Earth Mines, Magnets & Motors 2025

Join us in Toronto in September 2025 for Rare Earth Mines, Magnets & Motors 2025 where we’ll explore this topic further with leading industry experts.

The two-day event will bring together business and technical leaders from across the global mine-to-OEM supply chain for high caliber discussions and networking at a 5-star venue.

Key themes of this year’s conference will include robotics, automation, advanced air mobility, and the emerging mine-to-magnet supply chain coming together upstream.

Special guest: Steve Wozniak, co-founder of Apple

More information: www.adamasevent.com