US suspends licences to ship nuclear plant parts to China

WASHINGTON: The US in recent days suspended licences for nuclear equipment suppliers to sell to China’s power plants, according to four people familiar with the matter, as the two countries engage in a damaging trade war.

The suspensions were issued by the US Department of Commerce, the people said, and affect export licenses for parts and equipment used with nuclear power plants. Nuclear equipment suppliers are among a wide range of companies whose sales have been restricted over the past two weeks as the US-China trade war shifted from negotiating tariffs to throttling each other’s supply chains. It is unclear whether a Thursday call between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping would affect the suspensions.

The US and China agreed on May 12 to roll back triple digit, tit-for-tat tariffs for 90 days, but the truce between the two biggest economies quickly went south, with the US claiming China reneged on terms related to rare earth elements, and China accusing the US of “abusing export control measures” by warning that using Huawei Ascend AI chips anywhere in the world violated US export controls. After Thursday’s call, further talks on key issues were expected.