China announced on Tuesday a ban on imports of genetic sequencers from US medical equipment maker Illumina, shortly after US President Donald Trump’s additional 10% tariff on Chinese goods took effect. The ban is part of a series of measures China introduced in response to the new US tariffs and follows Beijing’s decision to place Illumina on its unreliable entity list in February.
China accounts for approximately 7% of Illumina’s sales. Gene sequencers are crucial for determining the sequence of DNA or RNA, enabling scientists to study genetic variations associated with diseases and diagnose rare genetic conditions. The ban takes effect from March 4.