China will establish a list of so-called “unreliable” entities in order to target firms it says damage the interests of domestic companies, according to an announcement carried by state media on Friday.

China will set up a mechanism listing foreign enterprises, organisations and individuals that don’t obey market rules, violate contracts and block, cut off supply for non-commercial reasons or severely damage the legitimate interests of Chinese companies, China National Radio reported, citing ministry of commerce spokesman Gao Feng. Details of the list were not immediately available, though more will be announced “soon”.

The US government has moved to curb Huawei’s ability to sell equipment in the US and buy parts from US suppliers, potentially crippling one of China’s most successful — but controversial — global companies. That step has helped broaden the tariff war into a more general confrontation between China and the US, at a time when negotiations between the two sides have broken down.

Beijing has readied a plan to restrict exports of rare earths to the US if needed, according to people familiar with the matter. The tariff conflict is set to ratchet up this weekend as the US locks down higher duties on about US$200-billion of goods arriving from China and Beijing implements its own retaliation. — (c) 2019 Bloomberg LP