The US government banned these companies and products

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The US government banned these companies and products

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Banned in the USA

A surprising number of globally-known firms are prohibited from operating in America and numerous world-famous products are strictly forbidden due to reasons ranging from the intensifying US-China trade war, trade embargoes and sanctions to simple health and safety. With restrictions on super-popular Chinese apps TikTok and WeChat and businesses such as Huawei hitting the headlines, click or scroll through the key companies and products that are banned, or could soon be outlawed, in the US.

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TikTok

The ban on TikTok, which has garnered a staggering 100 million active monthly users in America, was set to kick in on Sunday 27 September, having been put on hold for a week. President Trump first mooted the proposal in July and signed an executive order on 6 August to outlaw the short-form video-sharing app “unless it is sold to an American buyer”. However, TikTok's parent company ByteDance filed a lawsuit to stop the ban and, hours before it was set to take effect, a federal judge stepped in, granting TikTok's request for an injunction. The Commerce Department has accepted the ruling but announced that it plans to "vigorously defend" its order.

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TikTok

Why is the US government so keen to ban TikTok if a US company doesn't buy it? Privacy and national security concerns. The US government believes the app could be exploited by the Chinese state for nefarious purposes, though this has been strenuously denied by TikTok's parent company ByteDance.

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TikTok

President Trump has given his “blessing” to a deal between ByteDance and US firms Oracle and Walmart, which would see them operate the app in America. But it could all fall through given the transaction will have to be approved by the Chinese government, which has accused the Trump administration of bullying and isn't likely to make things easy.

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WeChat

New downloads of Chinese multitasking 'app for everything' WeChat were also slated to be banned by the US Department of Commerce on Sunday 20 September, but its Shenzhen-based parent company Tencent has won a reprieve after a judge in California blocked the move. Tencent didn't actually file the lawsuit, however. It was launched in August by a group of US WeChat users.

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WeChat

The plaintiffs argued the ban infringes on their First Amendment rights and unfairly targets Chinese-Americans since the majority of the app's 19 million active daily users in America are Chinese speakers. Again, the attempted ban boils down to US government concerns over privacy and national security. The Trump administration believes the app could be used by Beijing to spy on American citizens and companies.

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WeChat

Like ByteDance, Tencent, which is also drawing the scrutiny of the US government for its stakes in several American gaming companies, has fiercely denied its product could be used as an espionage tool and insists WeChat messages are private, though unlike those of rival apps such as WhatsApp and Telegram they lack watertight end-to-end encryption.

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Huawei

The US government's crackdown on Chinese communications company Huawei actually began in 2012 when it prohibited firms operating in America from using the company's networking equipment. Since then the freezing out of Huawei, which has been accused of IP theft and criticized by the US for its close ties to the Chinese Communist Party, has escalated significantly.

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Huawei

In late 2018 Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou was arrested in Canada at America's request for violating US sanctions on Iran. The Trump administration doubled down on the Chinese firm in May 2019, adding it to the ominously sounding 'Entity List', banning the telecoms giant from doing any business with US organizations and finally sounding the death knell for its involvement in the nation's 5G infrastructure.

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Huawei

The administration didn't stop there. In May it barred non-US companies from producing anything for Huawei that contains American technologies and in July imposed visa restrictions on Huawei workers. The following month the country's authorities tightened the screws further by beefing up regulations devised to limit Huawei's access to US chips and other technologies.

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ZTE

Chinese telecoms titan ZTE has also fallen foul of the US government. Like Huawei, the company has been slammed by American lawmakers for its cozy relationship with the Chinese government, which they believe could enable mass surveillance of US citizens and companies. On top of this, ZTE was fined a whopping $1.2 billion in 2017 by the US Department of Commerce for exporting American technology to North Korea and Iran in violation of US trade sanctions.

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ZTE

In April 2018 the US government went on to prohibit domestic companies from exporting equipment to ZTE for seven years and subsequently banned the Shenzhen-headquartered firm from doing business in America for the foreseeable future. To compound matters, the US Department of Justice reportedly opened a bribery investigation into the company back in March.

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ZTE

The restrictions come at a heavy price, however, with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) estimating it could cost US carriers $1.8 billion to remove and replace existing ZTE and Huawei equipment. Be that as it may, the US authorities are pulling no punches and going all out to protect domestic infrastructure regardless of the expense involved.

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China Mobile

Staying with telecoms companies, China Mobile has been shut out of the American market too. In May the FCC voted unanimously to block the firm from providing services in the US following advice from other government agencies, which urged the body to bar the Chinese entity due to national security concerns.

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China Mobile

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai explained the reasoning behind the vote. “China Mobile ultimately is owned and controlled by the Chinese government,” he said. “There is a significant risk that the Chinese government would use China Mobile to conduct activities that would seriously jeopardize the national security, law enforcement and economic interests of the United States.”

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Hikvision

The US government has also moved to block Chinese biometric video surveillance company Hikvision from operating in the country. The ban came into effect in August 2019. Hikvision pulled out all the stops in an attempt to rescind it, spending millions of dollars on a charm offensive that included intense lobbying of US government officials.

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Hikvision

The company's efforts came to nothing though and the ban remains in place, though businesses can apply for a waiver license to get around it. On top of the national security concerns, the firm was slapped with the restrictions as a consequence of its alleged role in the persecution of the Uighur people in Xinjiang.

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Dahua

China's second biggest surveillance equipment maker Dahua Technology was also placed on the banned list in 2019 due to its perceived involvement in the persecution of China's Muslim Uighur minority, not to mention concerns over cyberespionage. US firms are prohibited from purchasing and using products manufactured by the company.

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Dahua

As is the case with Hikvision, American organizations are able to sidestep the ban if they can get hold of a waiver license. Interestingly, the US government is simply following the lead of its Chinese counterpart, which has long held the belief that foreign video surveillance equipment poses a threat to national security.

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Xinjiang Junggar Cotton and Linen Co.

Earlier this month the Trump Administration banned five types of Chinese exports from the Xinjiang region, which it says are produced using forced Uighur labor. The now contraband products include cotton, hair products and computer components. The US Department of Homeland Security also named a number of offending companies, one of which is Xinjiang Junggar Cotton and Linen Co.

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Xinjiang Junggar Cotton and Linen Co.

US intelligence “reasonably indicates” the firm and its subsidiaries use convict labor to process raw cotton. And the list of banned Chinese companies just keeps growing. Other notable Chinese enterprises prohibited from doing business in America include 24 firms that have been sanctioned for their role in the military build-up in the South China Sea as well as six AI companies, and the US government is contemplating further sanctions and bans on major Chinese firms, which could include online shopping giant Alibaba and chipmaker SMIC.

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Kaspersky Lab

Chinese companies aren't the only ones being shunned by America. A litany of Russian firms are barred or severely restricted from operating in the US due to everything from the invasion of Ukraine to corruption and cyberespionage. They include Kremlin-owned arms exporter Rosoboronexport and cybersecurity company Kaspersky Lab, with US government agencies strictly forbidden from using its antivirus software.

Alwaneo LLC

Even companies based in ostensibly friendly countries can be banned from trading with America. For example, earlier this year five UAE-headquartered oil trading firms including Alwaneo LLC had their US assets frozen and were blocked from doing business Stateside because they had facilitated the sale of Iranian petroleum in defiance of American sanctions.

SPI International Proprietary Ltd.

In a similar vein, a South African petrochemicals company called SPI International Proprietary Ltd. was heavily sanctioned by the Trump administration earlier this year for contravening US restrictions on trade with Iran after it was found to be “knowingly engaging in a significant transaction for the purchase, acquisition, sale, transport or marketing of petrochemical products" from the Middle Eastern country.

Cuban rum

The embargo on trade with Communist Cuba has existed since 1960 and the sale of products from the country remains illegal in the US. For instance, the country's signature rum, Havana Club, which is part state-owned, is available in 210 countries, but contraband in America, though Bacardi produces a copycat drink in Puerto Rico.

Cuban cigars

Likewise, Cuban cigars, the so-called 'puros', are illegal to buy and sell in the US, but Americans are permitted to purchase them in Cuba and take them home. Still, plenty of imitation brands are available Stateside including copycat Montecristo and Cohiba cigars made in the Dominican Republic.

Roquefort cheese

Deemed a food poisoning hazard by the powers that be, unpasteurized cheese that has been aged for fewer than 60 days is forbidden to be bought and sold in America and has been since 1949. The long list of banned cheeses include France's iconic Roquefort, Brie de Meaux and Reblochon. Quelle horreur! Needless to say, a booming black market catering to diehard cheese obsessives has sprung up.

Kinder Surprise chocolate eggs

Foods containing embedded non-nutritive objects have been banned by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) since 1938, meaning Italian company Ferrero's Kinder Surprise chocolate eggs, which famously contain a plastic toy, are forbidden. Luckily, American kids needn't feel deprived. Ferrero released a similar version Stateside in 2018 called the Kinder Joy. It consists of two separately-sealed halves, one which can be eaten and the other containing a toy, so as to adhere to US regulations.

Scottish haggis

Scottish expats have to resort to the black market if they want to get their hands on their nation of birth's beloved national dish haggis across the pond. In 1971 the US Department of Agriculture imposed a ban on the offal-packed pudding having taken issue with the key ingredient sheep's lung, which it believes isn't fit for human consumption. However, Scots in America wanting a taste of home can snap up haggis without the sheep's lung, or opt for a vegetarian version.

Caspian Sea beluga caviar

The most prized caviar in the world is the outrageously expensive roe extracted from the female beluga sturgeon fish native to the Caspian Sea, but don't expect to find it in America, which at one time accounted for 60% of global exports. The delicacy was outlawed in 2005 by the US Fish and Wildlife Services to help conserve stocks of the beluga sturgeon, which has been massively overfished.

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Caffeinated alcoholic drinks

Alcoholic beverages spiked with caffeine were banned in America in 2010 after the potent concoctions were linked to numerous cases of alcoholic poisoning, driving under the influence and other highly undesirable repercussions. As controversial as they are, these 'blackout in a can' products can still be purchased in plenty of other countries, including the UK.

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