BYD added to the Pentagon’s Section 1260H list alongside Alibaba, Baidu and dozens of other Chinese firms, the US Department of Defense announced on Monday, in a move that risks deepening tensions between Washington and Beijing. The list, published in a post on the Federal Register, names companies the department says are directly or indirectly engaged in providing commercial services in the United States while maintaining ties to the Chinese military.
What the Section 1260H List Means in Practice
Inclusion on the list does not trigger immediate sanctions. Its stated purpose is to alert American organisations to the risks of doing business with the named firms. The legal basis for the list traces back further than the current announcement: as Hogan Lovells notes, Section 1260H of the Fiscal Year 2021 National Defense Authorisation Act requires the Secretary of Defense to publish an annual list, until 31 December 2030, of entities deemed to be “Chinese military companies” operating in the United States or its territories.
The January 2025 update brought the total number of listed entities to 134, spanning sectors including artificial intelligence, aerospace and biotechnology, according to Hogan Lovells. Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld reports that the updated list added 17 new entities while removing three from the prior version, making this one of the more active revisions the list has seen. The Pentagon’s current published version names more than 80 “Chinese military companies” engaged commercially in the US market.
The Chinese embassy in the US told the BBC the list is “discriminatory” and stated that firms from China have strictly complied with laws abroad. Alibaba’s representatives said separately that there is no basis for their companies to have been listed. A spokesperson for the firm added: ‘We will take all available legal action against attempts to misrepresent our company.’ A Baidu spokesperson said there is ‘no credible justification’ for its inclusion and that the company will ‘use all options available’ to have its name struck off.
BYD Added to Pentagon List: the Competitive Context
BYD does not export its cars to the US, yet the company’s scale gives Washington reason to pay attention. The electric vehicle maker surpassed Tesla earlier this year to become the world’s top EV producer, competing in a global market where American manufacturers are under pressure. Its inclusion on the list, alongside fellow EV maker Nio and aircraft manufacturer Comac, signals that the Pentagon’s concerns extend well beyond traditional defence-adjacent technology into consumer and transport industries.
Alibaba, BYD and Baidu were among those accused of serving as military-civil contributors to Chinese defence operations, according to the list. Policy analyst Stefanie Kam from the Nanyang Technological University told the BBC that the US appears to have flagged these companies for their participation in state programmes rather than on the basis of clear evidence of contracts with the Chinese military. Beijing will likely view the move as a “form of economic containment,” Kam said.
Some businesses on the list compete directly with major American companies in sectors including electric vehicles and artificial intelligence, which sharpens the geopolitical reading of each new addition. China could possibly retaliate with tit-for-tat sanctions, add American firms to a list of its own, or respond with some form of diplomatic pushback, Kam said.
Companies added in previous rounds, including tech firms Tencent and Huawei, drone producer DJI and battery maker CATL, remain on the list. Huawei’s position remains the starkest precedent: in 2019, Washington barred US firms from doing business with the company over national security concerns linked to its equipment. Huawei has denied claims that using its products presents security risks and says it is independent from the Chinese government.
The BBC has contacted BYD and several other firms named in the announcement for comment. With the Section 1260H publication cycle running mandatorily until the end of 2030, further additions, removals and corporate legal challenges are effectively written into the calendar.
