Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC) denied being involved with China’s military, as it responded to reports the US government was considering adding the company to a trade blacklist.

The company called for dialogue with the US, stating it has “no relationship” with China’s military and was in “complete shock” about reports a ban was being considered.

“Any assumptions of the company’s ties with the Chinese military are untrue statements and false accusations,” it said, adding it has a strong track record of complying with international laws and maintained long-term strategic partnerships with multiple US-based semiconductor equipment suppliers.

It follows a Reuters report last week that the US government was investigating SMIC’s links with China’s military and could add it to a Department of Commerce (DoC) trade blacklist, blocking access to key components.

Richard Windsor, founder of research blog Radio Free Mobile, said a block would be a devastating blow, because SMIC is even more dependent on US technology than Huawei, which was added to the same DoC list in May 2019.

There are now more than 275 Chinese companies on the DoC blacklist, including Huawei rival ZTE, Reuters reported.

Huawei is a long-standing SMIC customer, but in 2019 reportedly began increasing its reliance on the company for its HiSilicon business to offset US trade restrictions on Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company.