The United States should avoid further impacting Sino-US trade relations, spokesman Gao Feng told reporters at a weekly briefing.

The US Commerce Department said on Wednesday that it was adding Huawei Technologies Co and 70 affiliates to its so-called ‘Entity List’ in a move that bans the Chinese telecommunications giant from acquiring components and technology from US firms without prior US government approval.

Trump separately on Wednesday signed an executive order barring US firms from using telecom equipment made by companies deemed to pose a national security risk.
The order did not specifically identify any country or company, but US officials have previously labelled Huawei a ‘threat’ and lobbied allies not to use Huawei network equipment in next-generation 5G networks.

The concept of national security is being abused, and should not be used as a tool for trade protectionism, Gao said.