The USA has expanded its Entity List to include 36 additional Chinese companies following the introduction of tough new export controls in October. The list forbids any US entity to trade with these companies except with a (hard to obtain) special licence, citing national security concerns. The Department of Commerce (DoC) said the expanded list aimed to limit China’s “efforts to obtain and leverage advanced technologies including artificial intelligence (AI) for its military modernization efforts and human rights violations.” The most prominent of the new additions is YMTC, China’s biggest memory chip producer, which has been an important partner in Huawei’s bid to stockpile components and become self-sufficient, having been cut off from its former suppliers in the USA and…