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China’s new tech export restrictions further cloud US TikTok sale and raise the risk of protectionism
- The new rules come at a time of worsening relations between Washington and Beijing, with trade and tech tensions on the rise
- Approval timetable would still be compatible with the November 12 deadline set by Trump’s second TikTok executive order, requiring a TikTok sale
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Beijing’s new export control list raises the risk of technology protectionism and means greater uncertainty over the sale of TikTok’s US operations as well as more questions for both Chinese companies with overseas businesses and multinationals that create intellectual property in China, experts said on Monday.
The Ministry of Commerce and Ministry of Science and Technology on Friday jointly updated a catalogue of technology exports that are banned or restricted amid rising tensions between the US and China over technology and intellectual property. This is the only revision since the list was first published in 2008.
Among the newly-added restrictions are “personalised information recommendation service technology based on data analysis” and “artificial intelligence interactive interfaces”, one type of which uses voice recognition.
These technologies are widely used by TikTok and other products from Chinese owner ByteDance, all of which curate content feeds based on user preferences and activity.
The new rules also come at a time of worsening trade relations between Washington and Beijing. The Post reported in June that China had prepared a blacklist of US companies after Washington tightened export controls to Huawei Technologies and 33 other Chinese firms in May – only to hold off for fear the move would backfire and damage its economy, citing a source close to the Chinese government.
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