HUAWEI

Huawei did not immediately respond to a request for comment. But China’s official Global Times newspaper threatened countermeasures. It said Beijing that could include restrictions on U.S. companies including Qualcomm, Cisco and Apple. It also threatened to suspend purchases of Boeing aircraft.

Global Times noted that the new rules would block companies such as TSMC, a Taiwainese chip maker, from providing semiconductors to Huawei.

TSMC said it was “following the U.S. export rule change closely.” The company said the semiconductor supply chain is “extremely complex” and TSMC was working with lawyers to “conduct legal analysis and ensure a comprehensive examination and interpretation of these rules.”

TSMC announced plans this week to build a chip plant in Arizona.

“It seems the U.S. is ratcheting up efforts to pinch China’s high-tech companies,” the Global Times said. It called the move an element of President Donald Trump’s reelection strategy. “U.S. suppression has become the No. 1 challenge to China’s development.”