China hits back at US curbs with multifront probes into American firms

Parent company of Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger; chemical-compound exporters; and US chip companies are on radar of China’s commerce authorities and subject to possible retaliation

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Xinjiang cotton has been in the global spotlight since 2020. Photo: Getty Images

Sylvia Main Hong Kong,Luna Sunin BeijingandRalph Jenningsin Hong Kong

Published: 4:43pm, 16 Jan 2025Updated: 2:32am, 17 Jan 2025

China has hit back at the US following intensified curbs by the outgoing administration of President Joe Biden, with Beijing announcing multifront probes of American firms – declaring that the parent company of clothing brands Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger has engaged in “inappropriate conduct” on Xinjiang matters – and threatening to investigate US chip companies.

The tit-for-tat approach, analysts said, could be a sign of Beijing’s rehearsal for negotiations with Donald Trump, who will be sworn in as US president on Monday, and of China’s determination to prepare for a long fight.

China’s Ministry of Commerce (Mofcom) said on Thursday that results from initial investigations, which began in late September, showed that clothing firm PVH Group was involved in “inappropriate conduct”. And Mofcom’s office overseeing the Unreliable Entity List (UEL) mechanism – a blacklist similar to the US entity list – will have regulatory discussions with the US firm in the short term, according to an online statement.

On the same day, the ministry said it would initiate an investigation into US chipmakers after hearing the Chinese chip industry’s concerns regarding the substantial subsidies provided by the Biden administration to the US “legacy” chip sector.

The ministry also said Chinese authorities had determined that imports of copolymerised polyformaldehyde – an engineering thermoplastic – from the US, European Union, Taiwan and Japan were being dumped in China, causing substantial damage to its industry.

Obviously, [China] is playing a tit-for-tat game with the US

Chen Zhiwu, University of Hong Kong

The developments came with the outgoing Biden administration having recently launched a barrage of anti-China measures, from barring the sale of smart cars containing Chinese technology in the US market, on the basis of national security concerns; to a trade investigation into “legacy” semiconductors made by China; and blacklisting Chinese tech companies and limiting exports.