China announced trade sanctions for six American companies on Thursday, another flare-up in its wide-ranging rivalry with the United States as the two countries prepare for a hotly anticipated meeting between their leaders.According to a statement from Beijing’s Ministry of Commerce, three US companies were added to the “unreliable entity list”, effectively banning them from trade and investment in China.The affected enterprises – unmanned vehicle firm Saronic Technologies, satellite company Aerkomm and subsea engineering firm Oceaneering International – have “engaged in so-called military-technical cooperation with Taiwan, severely undermining China’s national sovereignty, security and development interests” despite strong opposition, the ministry said.“China has always handled the list with prudence, targeting a small number of foreign entities that endanger our national security in accordance with the law. Honest and law-abiding foreign entities have no cause for concern.”After a phone call between the two leaders last week running nearly two hours, US President Donald Trump said that he plans to meet Chinese leader Xi Jinping next month on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit in South Korea.The two countries have clashed over a variety of issues since Trump began his second term in January, most notably a rapid escalation of tariff rates in April and the impending sale of the Chinese social media platform TikTok to US investors.Three other American firms – shipbuilder Huntington Ingalls Industries, engineering and construction manager Planate and services provider Global Dimensions – were added to the export control list, preventing them from receiving shipments of items from China determined to have military and civilian applications.