China said on Monday that it will add 10 American firms to its export control list, including two rare earth firms MP Materials and USA Rare Earth, while also restricting 46 US firms from government procurement, signalling it would respond to Washington’s recent expansion of a military blacklist, even amid a broader stabilization of bilateral ties, the SCMP reported.The Ministry of Commerce said in a statement on Monday that the 10 American firms to be added to the export control list wereAVEOX (Simi Valley, California)Red Cat Holdings and Teal Drones (South Salt Lake, Utah)IMSAR (Springville, Utah)Jaia Robotics (Bristol, Rhode Island)Ball Aerospace & Technologies (Broomfield, Colorado)Oshkosh Defense (Oshkosh, Wisconsin)L3Harris Maritime Services (Norfolk, Virginia)MP Materials (Las Vegas, Nevada)USA Rare Earth (Stillwater, Oklahoma)It's notable that China's commerce ministry had already imposed curbs on a number of these listed firms and their subsidiaries, both in 2024 and 2025 over US arms sales to Taiwan. More notably, the inclusion of critical rare earth players like MP Materials and USA Rare Earth underscores Beijing's willingness to weaponize its monopoly over the global magnet and rare earths supply chains.A spokesperson for the Ministry of Commerce said the decisions were made in response to “malicious actions” by the US government, after the US Department of Defence expanded its list of “Chinese military companies”.China’s Ministry of Commerce in Beijing. Photo: EPA-EFE/File photo“China has decided, in accordance with the relevant laws and provisions… to include Aveox, Inc. and nine other US military-related entities on the export control list. The export of dual-use items to these entities is prohibited, and no export operators shall violate the above provisions,” said the commerce ministry spokesperson.Analysts said that the measures from both sides so far were unlikely to significantly derail relations, though they also warned of the impact from any escalation.As we reported, on June 9, the Pentagon said it was adding dozens of Chinese companies - including tech giants Alibaba and Baidu - to a list of entities it says were linked to China’s military, widening a blacklist perceived as targeting sectors at the heart of US-China technological competition. The designation cut the firms off from US defense procurement; however, Baidu had quickly shot back, calling the suggestion that it is a military company "totally baseless". So the U.S. publishes a list of Chinese Military Companies—which imposes no sanctions or restrictions on those companies, it’s just a list—and China responds with actual export controls on multiple U.S. companies. Seems like a good time for Commerce to issue the Entity List… https://t.co/3JIAMuWVfK