| Reuters. ## The US and China’s Arms Race: A Case Study in Economic Sanctioning

The US has increasingly used economic sanctions as a tool to curb the influence of countries like China and Russia in the global arena. The recent case of US sanctions against three China-based companies for supplying missile-applicable items to Pakistan highlights this trend. This practice reveals a complex interplay of economic interests, national security concerns, and geopolitical maneuvering.

“The United States is [also] imposing sanctions on three PRC-based entities, one PRC individual, and a Pakistani entity for ballistic missile proliferation activities: PRC-based firms Hubei Huachangda Intelligent Equipment Company, Universal Enterprise Limited, and Xi’an Longde Technology Development Company Limited (aka Lontek); and PRC individual Luo Dongmei (aka Steed Luo) for knowingly transferring equipment and technology controlled under the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) Annex, in support of MTCR Category I missile programmes, to a non-MTCR country,” the statement said. The statement said the department also imposed sanctions on a Pakistan-based entity Innovative Equipment under the missile sanctions laws. “The United States will continue to act against proliferation and associated procurement activities of concern, wherever they occur,” the statement concluded.

The US had similarly targeted three China-based companies with sanctions in October last year for supplying missile-applicable items to Pakistan. The US State Department had sanctioned General Technology Limited, Beijing Luo Luo Technology Development Co Ltd, and Changzhou Utek Composite Company Ltd. for supplying brazing materials used to join components in ballistic missile rocket engines, in the production of combustion chambers, and supplying mandrels and other machinery used in the production of solid-propellant rocket motors.