Over the past week, the US has issued new sanctions on Russia and China. The Biden administration has attempted to cripple the Russian economy in response to the invasion of Ukraine. Beijing has responded to the economic war on China with retaliatory sanctions on American firms.

On Wednesday, the Treasury Department issued new sanctions on 15 firms and re-designated about 100 companies doing business with the Russian Defense Ministry. As well as black listing Russian companies, a myriad of Chinese firms as well as the Keremet Bank in Kyrgyzstan were also sanctioned.

Last week, fresh sanctions were also issued against the Russian energy sector.

The move is aimed at hemming in incoming President Donald Trump’s policy on the Ukraine War. An official explained that the sanctions would require congressional approval to be removed.

After Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, President Joe Biden said he would cripple the Russian economy via sanctions. However, Moscow has developed new networks and trading partners to offset losing access to Western economies.

Earlier this month, Washington added major Chinese companies, tech giant Tencent Holdings, battery maker CATL, state oil firm CNOOC, and shipping line Cosco to blacklists. While the blacklists do not sanction the firms, it marks the companies as having ties with the Chinese military, and Americans are deterred from engaging in trade.

Beijing is responding to Washington’s economic war and other provocations with sanctions. In December, China sanctioned several Western arms firms over weapons shipments to Taiwan. Under President Biden, the White House began sending Taipei weapons paid for with military assistance, a move viewed as a major escalation of ties between the US and the break-away Chinese region.

Additionally, in January, China placed trade controls on another 28 American firms. Beijing said it blacklisted these companies to “safeguard national security and interests.”