Pentagon suggests adding Alibaba, Baidu, BYD to list for aiding China military, Bloomberg News reports

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(Reuters) -The Pentagon has concluded that Alibaba Group Holding, Baidu Inc and BYD Co should be added to a list of companies that aid the Chinese military, Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday.

Deputy Defense Secretary Stephen Feinberg informed lawmakers of the conclusion in a letter on October 7, three weeks before Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping agreed to a broad trade truce, according to the report.

It is not immediately clear if the companies have been added to the Pentagon’s 1260H list of Chinese companies deemed military-linked but operating in the U.S., Bloomberg reported.

While the designation does not involve immediate bans, it can be a blow to the reputations of affected companies and represents a stark warning to U.S. entities and firms about the risks of conducting business with them.

Feinberg said the three companies and five others — Eoptolink Technology Inc, Hua Hong Semiconductor Ltd, RoboSense Technology Co, WuXi AppTec Co and Zhongji Innolight Co — merit inclusion on the 1260H list, according to the report.

The Pentagon, Alibaba, Baidu and BYD did not immediately respond to Reuters request for comments on the report.

The annually updated list of Chinese military companies, formally mandated under U.S. law as the “Section 1260H list”, designated 134 companies in its last update in January, including Chinese tech giant Tencent Holdings and battery maker CATL.

(Reporting by Juby Babu in Mexico City; Editing by Arun Koyyur)