The Pentagon failed to provide the legally required report on Chinese companies with military ties to Congress because US President Joe Biden is about to make a decision on whether Americans can invest in such organizations.

Two people familiar with the matter said that Congress required the U.S. Department of Defense to submit a report by April 15. But the Pentagon told members of Congress that it missed the deadline.

The Biden administration decides whether to keep Executive order Former President Donald Trump signed that prohibits Americans from investing in Chinese companies named on the previous Pentagon’s blacklist.

U.S. Treasury Department in January extend the deadline The ban will take effect on May 27. The move is designed to allow the government time to evaluate executive orders as part of Trump’s extensive review of actions related to China.

Biden’s hawkish stance on China far exceeds the expectations of many foreign policy experts.

A Pentagon spokesperson did not explain the reason for the delay, but said the Department of Defense will submit a report by October.

The Financial Times reported last year that the Pentagon responded to Trump’s pressure to compile an initial blacklist more than two decades after Trump was first authorized by Congress. The former president used the list as a basis and banned direct investment or investment through funds.

Congress not only requires the Pentagon to update this report every year, but also expands the scope of the standard to target companies that help the People’s Liberation Army through “military-civilian integration,” which requires them to share technology with the Chinese military. This has the potential to greatly expand the scope of any investment ban.

Some U.S. lawmakers expressed concern about this delay. Influential Republican Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton (Tom Cotton) said, “The Department of Defense must continue to focus on documenting and advocating Chinese military companies operating in the United States.” He added that the government needs to “defeat the Communist Party’s attempts to use our judicial system against us.”

Cotton Company made a comment after the Pentagon agreed to remove Chinese smartphone manufacturer Xiaomi from the blacklist. The judge said that the reason was flawed.

The White House stated that after the court stated that the Trump administration had failed to establish a sufficient legal basis for its decision, the White House stated that it was “forced” to remove the company. But Emily Horne, a spokesperson for the US National Security Council, said that Biden “is deeply concerned about the potential investment by the United States in companies with links to the Chinese military and is fully committed to maintaining pressure on such companies.” .

John Smith, a partner at Morrison & Foster Law Firm and a former U.S. Treasury Department official, said the Obama administration was in trouble. He said: “I am sure that the Biden team is happy to throw things away,” he said, referring to the complicated legal circumstances surrounding Trump’s departure from Biden. “They may not, because they can’t be seen as weak to China, and they don’t want to be weak to China.”

Smith said Biden needs to work out how to implement the list so as not to cause more losses in court.

Eric Sayers, an Asia expert at the American Enterprise Institute think tank, said that although lawmakers expressed dissatisfaction with the delay in the implementation of the order, they should recognize that Biden said he would maintain a strong stance.

He said: “The government has stated that it does not want to give up its efforts, but to improve it through a more rigorous coordination process.” “Whether Congress can wait patiently this summer and whether the Biden team can effectively reconstruct this approach, it will be The key to watch this summer.”

Follow Demetri Sevastopulo Twitter