CHINA announced today sanctions on 10 United States military-related companies in response to a recent move by Washington that bars some of its leading tech companies from defence contracts.

The Commerce Ministry said that Chinese companies would be blocked from exporting “dual-use” items to the 10 companies, which include military drone-makers and some involved in rare earth mining.

The ministry said the export ban was both to safeguard China’s national security and in response to what it called the US government’s “wrongful expansion of its so-called List of Chinese Military Companies.”

Separately, the Finance Ministry said that government entities would be prohibited from buying products from 46 US companies including multiple units of Lockheed Martin, Raytheon and General Dynamics.

Earlier this month, the US Defence Department added several tech companies including Alibaba and Baidu to its list of firms that it says have links to the Chinese military.

Baidu said the suggestion that it is a military company is “totally baseless.”

The designation prevents them from getting US military contracts.

The Commerce Ministry said at the time that the sanctions run counter to the consensus between Chinese leader Xi Jinping and the US during President Donald Trump’s visit in May.

In today’s announcement, the ministry said that companies or individuals in third countries were prohibited from transferring dual-use items from China to the sanctioned American firms.

It also said that Chinese companies could apply for export approval for goods that were “genuinely necessary.”

The 10 companies are AVEOX in Simi Valley, California; Red Cat Holdings and Teal Drones, both in South Salt Lake, Utah; IMSAR in Springville, Utah; Jaia Robotics in Bristol, Rhode Island; Ball Aerospace & Technologies in Broomfield, Colorado; Oshkosh Defence in Oshkosh, Wisconsin; L3Harris Maritime Services in Norfolk, Virginia; MP Materials in Las Vegas; and USA Rare Earth in Stillwater, Oklahoma.