Have you ever sent an email, realized you made a massive mistake, and frantically tried to recall it? It seems the US Pentagon just had a similar moment, but on a global geopolitical scale. On February 13, 2026, the Department of Defense briefly published an updated "Section 1260H" list—a critical roster identifying companies allegedly operating as Chinese military firms—only to pull it down hours later.
While the Pentagon spokesperson stated that a "revised list will be made public soon," the temporary publication has given us a fascinating, if confusing, glimpse into how the second Trump administration is handling the tech trade war. It looks like the "presumption of denial" strategy regarding Chinese tech is being swapped for something much more transactional.
Let’s break down what was on that list and why it matters for the gadgets and networks we use every day.
What changed in the withdrawn Pentagon blacklist?
The brief appearance of the new list revealed a surprising shuffle of key players. According to reports analyzing the withdrawn document, the Pentagon removed two major Chinese memory chipmakers: Yangtze Memory Technologies (YMTC) and ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT).
If this change sticks in the official release, it would be a massive reprieve for these companies, easing restrictions related to Department of Defense contracts and investor warnings. This is a sharp pivot from previous years where the focus was on choking off China’s ability to manufacture advanced chips.
However, as some doors opened, others slammed shut. The same withdrawn list reportedly added tech giants Alibaba and Baidu, along with EV heavyweight BYD, labeling them as "Chinese military companies." This caused immediate volatility in Chinese tech stocks, with Alibaba and Baidu seeing price fluctuations the moment the news broke.
Is the US trading chips for minerals?
Why would the US suddenly ease up on Chinese memory chipmakers while cracking down on internet giants? The answer likely lies in the dirt—specifically, rare earth minerals.
Research indicates this policy shift follows a "Trump-Xi trade truce" brokered in South Korea back in October 2025. In that agreement, the US reportedly agreed to lower tariffs in exchange for China easing export controls on rare earth elements. These minerals are non-negotiable components for everything from fighter jets to the very batteries inside the EVs that BYD manufactures.
This transactional approach is becoming a pattern. On January 14, 2026, the Biden-era restrictions were reversed to allow case-by-case exports of Nvidia’s advanced H200 AI chips to China. The administration appears to be using high-tech exports as bargaining chips to secure the supply chains needed for American industry ahead of President Trump’s planned visit to Beijing in April 2026.
Could this affect your home network?
The potential policy reversal isn’t just about industrial chips and mining rights; it could impact consumer electronics, too. Reuters reports that the US is considering lifting bans on Chinese telecom carriers operating within the States.
Perhaps even more surprising for consumers is the report that the administration may drop plans to ban products from TP-Link, the world’s largest provider of Wi-Fi products. This would be a significant reversal of the "Clean Network" policies that sought to purge Chinese hardware from US infrastructure.
However, this new direction isn’t without domestic friction. On February 11, bipartisan US lawmakers sent a letter demanding stricter bans on semiconductor manufacturing equipment, highlighting a rift between legislative security concerns and the executive branch’s deal-making approach.
The Bigger Picture
We are witnessing a fundamental rewrite of the US-China tech containment strategy, moving from an ideology of total exclusion to one of high-stakes bartering. The winners here are clearly the US semiconductor equipment makers and companies like Nvidia, who regain access to a massive market, alongside Chinese manufacturers who need those tools. However, the losers may be the long-term strategic coherence of Western tech security; by trading chip access for minerals today, the administration is effectively fueling the very technological rise it previously sought to stall, betting that short-term supply chain stability is worth the geopolitical risk.
