The U.S. administration plans to blacklist Yangtze Memory Technologies and more than 30 other Chinese companies to prevent them from buying certain American components, adding to tensions between the world's two economic superpowers, Bloomberg reported.

The U.S. Department of Commerce will add a leading Chinese chip maker and others to the so-called blacklist as early as this week. Companies on the list are banned from buying technology from U.S. suppliers unless they get a special export license.

The move would represent the latest escalation in the U.S.-China conflict over technology. In October, the Biden administration unveiled a broad set of restrictions on China's ability to buy semiconductors and chipmaking equipment, putting Yangtze Memory and other companies on the list for further study.

Yangtze Memory, based in Wuhan, is the country's largest manufacturer of 3D NAND semiconductors, producing memory chips for smartphones and other computing devices, competing with companies such as Samsung Electronics Co.

U.S. officials imposed the latest restrictions on the chips, explaining this as a need to prevent an even greater economic and military threat from China.

China has sharply criticized the U.S. actions, claiming that the U.S. government is trying to stop its growth. This week, China filed a complaint with the World Trade Organization seeking to overturn the U.S.-imposed trade controls, claiming that they would disrupt global trade and supply chains.