BEIJING (Reuters) -China said on Tuesday it had launched an anti-monopoly investigation into Alphabet’s Google and added two U.S. firms to its “unreliable entity list,” minutes after additional U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods came into effect.
The measures were announced as Beijing also slapped tariffs on some U.S. products such as coal and oil in a rapid response to the new U.S. duties on Chinese goods, and mark escalating trade tensions between the world’s two biggest economies.
China’s Commerce Ministry said it had put PVH Corp, the holding company for brands including Calvin Klein, and U.S. biotechnology firm Illumina on its unreliable entity list.
It said the two companies took what it called “discriminatory measures against Chinese enterprises” and “damaged” legitimate rights and interests of Chinese companies.
Separately, China’s State Administration of Market Regulation said Google was suspected of violating the country’s anti-monopoly law, and it had initiated an investigation into the company in accordance with the law. It did not offer any further details on the investigation or on what it alleged Google had done to breach the law.
Google products such as its search engine are blocked in China, but it works with local partners such as advertisers in the country.
Google, PVH and Illumina did not immediately respond to requests for comment outside regular U.S. business hours.
(Reporting by Beijing bureau; Editing by Jamie Freed)
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