The U.S. lifted restrictions on 27 Chinese companies ahead of a trip by Treasury Secretary Gina Raimondo to China this month.
The U.S. Department of Commerce removed Chinese entities, including companies such as Beijing PowerMac Company and DK Laser Company Ltd., from the Commerce Department’s “unverified” list for exporters, according to a statement from the agency on Monday.
The unverified list informs U.S. exporters and the general public about “end-users” that are of concern for various reasons, according to the Commerce Department.
The move by the Commerce Department comes as Raimondo is scheduled to travel to Beijing and Shanghai from August 27–30 for meetings with senior PRC officials and U.S. business leaders.
M&A investors are particularly focused on China/U.S. relations as they await to hear whether China’s antitrust regulator will approve Broadcom’s (AVGO) planned $61 billion purchase of VMware as well as Emerson’s (EMR) planned $8.2 billion acquisition of National Instruments (NATI). VMware was approved in the UK on Monday and has also been cleared in the U.S.
Last Wednesday Intel (INTC) abandoned its planned $5.4 billion acquisition of Tower Semiconductor (TSEM) after China failed to approve the deal before a termination deadline for the deal expired.