The Pentagon has Alibaba $BABA (+2,02 %), Baidu $9888 (+1,72 %) and BYD $1211 (+1,12 %) to the US Congress for inclusion in the so-called 1260H list - a list of Chinese companies that the US government considers to have links to or could support the Chinese military. This is according to a letter from Deputy Secretary of Defense Stephen Feinberg dated 7 October, which Bloomberg was able to view.
In the letter to the chairmen of the Armed Services Committees of the House of Representatives and the Senate, Feinberg explains that the Department of Defense has identified eight companies based on "the latest available information" that are classified as Chinese military companies under US law.
In addition to Alibaba, Baidu and BYD, the Pentagon names Eoptolink Technology, Hua Hong Semiconductor, RoboSense Technology, WuXi AppTec and Zhongji Innolight. According to Feinberg, these companies "should be included in the 1260H list".
It remains unclear whether the companies have actually been officially added to the list. Although the 1260H list does not directly trigger sanctions, it is considered an important warning for US investors as it signals increased regulatory risk.
The letter was written a few weeks before the meeting between Donald Trump and Xi Jinping on October 30, in which both sides agreed on a comprehensive trade truce package, including lower tariffs and the suspension of certain export controls.
The Pentagon has not yet commented on the new classifications in response to an official request.
Alibaba, on the other hand, firmly rejected the claim.
The company stated that there was "no basis" for its inclusion on the list: "Alibaba is not a Chinese military company and is not part of a strategy to merge the military and civilian sectors." The company further emphasized: "We also note that Alibaba does not conduct business related to procurement by the U.S. military, and its inclusion on the Section 1260H list therefore has no impact on our ability to continue business as usual in the United States or elsewhere in the world."
China's Foreign Ministry also criticized the US approach once again, accusing Washington of overstretching the concept of national security and "unjustifiably suppressing" Chinese companies.
》The US will "take necessary measures" to protect Chinese companies《
The inclusion of prominent technology companies would have significant consequences. Previous listings have already triggered share price collapses for Tencent $TCEHY (+0,74 %) and CATL $3750 (+1,34 %) .
Companies such as Innolight and Eoptolink, which manufacture optical transceivers for AI data centers and are named as partners by Nvidia $NVDA (-0,84 %) as partners, could come under massive political pressure. The same applies to RoboSense, which supplies sensors for autonomous driving and is integrated into Nvidia's ecosystem.