The country’s Ministry of Commerce argued that the export list changes were overdue after remaining the same since 2008. It was important given the breakneck pace of technological improvement and China’s increasingly competitive output, according to officials.

Neither ByteDance nor the Commerce Ministry has commented on the new rules.

The move escalates an already intense dispute between China and the US. The two sides are already locked in a trade war, and the US has already implemented trade restrictions on companies like Huawei and ZTE over alleged security risks. The pressure on TikTok to drop ByteDance is an extension of this. In that regard, it’s not surprising that China is countering with tighter export limits. This theoretically pressures the US to make concessions and allow more access to Chinese tech.