U.S. Holds Off Blacklisting DeepSeek and 100+ Chinese Firms Despite Security Concerns

TLDR

• The Trump administration has delayed adding DeepSeek, CXMT, and 100+ Chinese companies to the U.S. trade blacklist.
• All firms were approved for the Entity List by an interagency committee but Commerce has not published the additions.
• No new Entity List additions have been posted since October — the longest gap in over a decade.
• DeepSeek was flagged for supporting Chinese military operations and trying to access U.S. chips illegally.
• Experts warn the delay may allow sensitive American technology to reach adversaries.

The Trump administration has held off adding more than 100 Chinese companies to the U.S. Commerce Department’s Entity List, according to Reuters. The firms, including AI startup DeepSeek and memory chipmaker ChangXin Memory Technologies, were approved for blacklisting by an interagency committee but have not been formally listed.

Companies on the Entity List face strict export restrictions. U.S. firms cannot ship goods, software, or technology to listed companies without a government license, which is typically denied.

The delay is tied to efforts to avoid escalating tensions with Beijing. Jeffrey Kessler, under secretary of commerce for industry and security, has reportedly sought to hold off listing Chinese parties since late 2025.

DeepSeek rose to global attention in January 2025 when its low-cost AI model disrupted the technology sector. A senior U.S. State Department official said DeepSeek supported Chinese military and intelligence operations and attempted to access advanced U.S. chips through Southeast Asian shell companies.

Anthropic said earlier this year it found a campaign by DeepSeek and two other Chinese AI labs attempting to extract capabilities from its Claude platform. OpenAI also warned lawmakers that DeepSeek was targeting its models.

ChangXin Memory Technologies, China’s top memory chipmaker, was previously designated a Chinese military company by the Pentagon under the Biden administration.

Longest Gap in Listings in Over a Decade

The U.S. has not posted any new Entity List additions since October. Philip Luck of the Center for Strategic and International Studies said this is the longest stretch between new postings in more than a decade.

At least 75 Chinese entities in semiconductor production, semiconductor equipment, and AI modeling were approved for the list but have not been published.

Other firms flagged include companies that supplied parts used in Russian drones recovered in Poland last September, and those accused of selling restricted Nvidia chips to Chinese universities.

Commerce Department Silent on Delays

The Bureau of Industry and Security did not respond directly to questions about why no new listings had been published, or comment specifically on DeepSeek and CXMT.

The bureau has also still not published a replacement for an AI chip export rule created under President Biden, leaving a potential gap that may have allowed chips to reach Chinese companies outside China.

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