China has targeted dozens of American companies ahead of Trump's expected tariffs

China on Thursday said it was adding dozens of American companies to its export control list to “protect national security and interests.”

China's Commerce Ministry said it will impose measures on 28 US companies and will ban the export of dual-use goods to the listed companies from Thursday, the Global Times, a Chinese newspaper considered aligned with Beijing and the government, reported. Xinhua News Agency. Dual-use items refer to those that can be used for civilian or military purposes.

China also fined 10 defense companies on Thursday for selling to the military in Taiwan, an island China claims as its own, and added them to China's “Unreliable Entities List,” the ministry said, according to AFP.

“It seems like it's really a warning – that the escalation of US policies against China, especially under Trump, will be met with a very aggressive response,” Jesse Schreger, associate professor of Macroeconomics at Columbia Business School, told CBS MoneyWatch. “China is showing it won't take tariffs lightly.”

The threat of not selling dual-use goods to listed companies could have consequences, given China's role as a global manufacturing hub, Schreger said. It is unclear how China intends to enforce the measures and which products will be considered dual-use and therefore their sales restricted. For example, tires could be considered for civilian and military use, he noted.

The moves come as Beijing prepares to return President-elect Donald Trump to the White House and after the Biden administration expanded its restrictions on Chinese firms amid the upswing and the move. In his presidential campaign, Trump has also floated the idea of ​​enforcing a prices up to 60% for all Chinese goods.

“The desire to impose higher tariffs on China seems credible, if you think back to the first Trump administration and its willingness to use it. [tariffs] to achieve geopolitical goals,” Schreger offered. “The Biden administration didn't push that back — in fact, they did it professionally. The rhetoric of the Trump administration may have been strong, but the Biden administration has taken this economic war to another level. ”

China last month said it was investigating US microchip maker Nvidia for possible violations of China's anti-autonomy laws.

China's action comes less than a week after it imposed sanctions on seven companies in response to recently announced US military sales and aid to Taiwan.

However, Beijing's sanctions against US defense companies tend to have a muted effect given that US military companies do not sell weapons or related goods to China. Tit-for-tat trade measures could also be limited, some analysts think.

“Reforms to immigration, trade and fiscal policy under the second Trump administration may be meaningful but leave behind some of the most dramatic proposals,” Goldman Sachs analysts said in a recent report. “We expect tariffs on imports from China and on cars, but not a global tariff, which would carry economic and political risks that we think the White House will choose to avoid.”

contributed to this report.