A bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers have asked Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to add Alibaba (BABA), Baidu (BIDU), BYD (BYDDF) (BYDDY), DeepSeek (DEEPSEEK), Xiaomi (XIACF) and BOE Technology to the Dept. of Defense’s list of companies aiding the Chinese military.
The letter was sent on Thursday by a group of lawmakers that includes Sen. Rick Scott (R.-Fla.), Congressman John Moolenaar (R.-Mich.), Congressman Rick Crawford (R.-Ark.), Rob Wittman (R.-Va.), Congressman Andrew Garbarino (R.-N.Y.), Congressman Bill Huizenga (R.-Mich.), Congressman Dusty Johnson (R.-S.D.) and Congressman Darin LaHood (R.-Ill.).
BOE Technology is one of Apple’s (AAPL) suppliers. News of the letter was first reported by Reuters.
Sen. Scott wrote a separate letter to Sec. Hegseth, applauding the potential inclusion.
“There is extensive, publicly available evidence that raises serious concerns regarding Alibaba, Baidu, BYD, and the five other reported PRC-based companies15 and their affiliations with the Chinese military,” Sen. Scott wrote in his letter. “It is essential to our nation’s security and the safety of American families that you add these companies to the Section 1260H list during your latest annual update, and that we keep these companies from encroaching on the lives and exploiting the data of American citizens. I urge you to work with the White House and other federal agencies to include these companies on the [Dept. of War] blacklist in the coming weeks.”
President Trump has renamed the Dept. of Defense the Dept of War.
The list already includes Tencent (TCEHY), CATL, and other Chinese companies. Though it does not formally sanction these companies, the list provides weight for suppliers to the Dept. of War and other U.S. agencies.
Alibaba, Baidu, DeepSeek, Xiaomi and BOE did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Seeking Alpha.