China Pushing US Companies to Supply Export-Controlled Goods Amid Merger Reviews, Report Says

Chinese officials recently have slowed merger reviews of a “number” of proposed acquisitions by U.S. companies, asking the firms to first make available in China products that may be subject to U.S. export controls, The Wall Street Journal reported. China has so far slow-walked merger reviews of Intel’s $5.2 billion purchase of Israel-based Tower Semiconductor and chipmaker MaxLinear’s $3.8 billion purchase of Taiwan-based Silicon Motion Technology, the report said.

“The Chinese demands could put U.S. companies in an impossible position,” the report said. Although Chinese regulators “rarely reject transactions outright,” they “have resorted to delaying and withholding approvals until their demands -- often focused on benefiting Chinese companies at the expense of their foreign competitors -- are met.”