Chinese tech companies Inspur and Loongson are banned by the US government. The addition of Inspur, in particular, can have a major impact on the industry.

The American government’s urge to exile is far from satisfied. On March 3, two new names landed on the dreaded blacklist: Inspur and Loongson. This means that American companies can no longer trade with these Chinese companies in any way.

Loongson’s ban shouldn’t have too much of an impact on the international tech industry. The chip manufacturer is concentrating on its home market and has to ensure that the Chinese industry can do without the technologies of the big foreign players Intel and AMD. By banning Loongson, the US government hopes to penalize China’s tech sector.

Friend of American Businesses

Inspur’s ban is a whole different story. The Chinese ICT group is not a competitor or an alternative, but a friend of the American technology industry. Many big names have partnered with the company. IBM and Cisco are in joint ventures with Inspur, and Microsoft, Intel and AMD also have a soft spot for the Chinese company. These connections must therefore be cut.

Incidentally, American companies themselves are not always so keen on sanctions against Chinese technology, especially when they themselves trade in and with China. Peter Wennink, CEO of the Dutch chip machine manufacturer ASML, recently stated that “geopolitical block formations” threaten to become a brake on innovation. These words sound particularly sensitive now that the company is being investigated for industrial espionage by China.