PVH Corp, the company that holds brands such as Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger, as well as Illumina, a US biotechnology company on the “unreliable entity” list, said China’s Commerce Ministery.
The companies were named unreliable due to theri practices of “discriminatory measures against Chinese enterprises" as well as damaging legitimate rights and interests of Chinese enterprises. The companies that are added to the blacklist can later be subjected to fines and many more sanctions, among those being a freeze on trade and revocation of work permits when it comes to foreign workers, reported Reuters.
China’s State Administration of Market Regulation reported that Google was suspected of breaking the country’s anti-monopoly law, and an investigation into the company as the law asks. Even more so, it did not talk about further details on the investigation, or what Google had done to breach the rules.
Google products are also blocked in China, yet they work with local partners such as advertisers. PVH and Illumina did not immediately respond to the request for comment.