By Karen Freifeld
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The United States said on Wednesday it was adding 15 Chinese companies to its restricted trade list for facilitating the purchase of American electronic components found in drones operated by Iranian proxies including Houthi and Hamas militants.
Ten companies in China were placed on the Commerce Department’s Entity List for facilitating the purchase of components found in weaponized unmanned aircraft systems operated by proxies including Yemen’s Houthi militants, according to a post in the Federal Register.
Five additional Chinese companies were listed after information that around October 7, 2023, Israel Defense Forces recovered numerous weaponized unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) operated by Iranian proxies including Hamas, the post said, and the debris showed multiple U.S.-origin electronic components.
Hamas-led militants staged an attack in Israel that day that killed 1,200 people, according to Israeli tallies, and triggered the war in Gaza.
In all, the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security is adding 29 entries to the list, including companies based in Turkey and United Arab Emirates.
Arrow China Electronics Trading in Shanghai and other Chinese cities and Arrow Electronics (Hong Kong) are among the companies being placed on the list over U.S. components for weaponized drones operated by Iranian proxies like the Houthis.
Both companies are subsidiaries of Centennial, Colorado-based Arrow Electronics, a components distributor which says it had global 2024 sales of $28 billion.
The companies have been and are continuing to operate in compliance with export regulations and the law, according to a statement from the U.S.-headquartered company.
“We are in discussion with BIS concerning these listings and will provide further details as soon as they become available,” Arrow spokesperson John Hourigan said in the statement. “In the meantime, we will work to minimize supply chain disruptions to our partners.”
The U.S. also added another Chinese company to the list for being part of an illicit network that obtains and supplies UAV and other components to front companies of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Quds Force (IRGC-QF).
Companies are placed on the Commerce Department’s Entity List for activities deemed contrary to U.S. national security and foreign policy interests. Licenses are required to export to companies on the list, and are likely to be denied.
(Reporting by Karen Freifeld; Additional reporting by Maiya Keidan; Editing by Doina Chiacu, Aidan Lewis and Daniel Wallis)
