US slaps sanctions on two Pakistani firms for nuke, missile trade

The US on Saturday slapped sanctions on two Pakistani companies by placing them on the export entities list for activities related to nuclear and missile trade.

The two companies - Technology Links Pvt Ltd and Techcare Services FZ have been placed under the Entity List by the Export Administration Regulations (EAR).

In a federal notification, the US Department of Commerce said that the entities added to the EAR list have been determined by the US government to be acting contrary to the national security or foreign policy interests of the US.

The move comes days ahead of the visit of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to Pakistan.

The EAR determined that Technology Links Pvt. Ltd., located in Pakistan, be added to the Entity List based on the company's involvement in the supply of items subject to the EAR to nuclear and missile-related Entity List parties in Pakistan without the required license, the federal notification said.

In addition, the EAR determined that Techcare Services FZ LLC, located in the UAE, and UEC (Pvt) Ltd, located in Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, made multiple attempts to acquire US-origin commodities ultimately destined for Pakistan's unsafeguarded nuclear programme and have provided false and misleading information during an end-use check, the federal notification said.