Know Your Collaborators Tool

1. Section 889 Telecom List — Public Law 115-232 (5 companies)
   Maintained under Section 889 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019 (NDAA FY2019), this list prohibits U.S. federal agencies from procuring telecommunications equipment or services from five named Chinese companies — Huawei, ZTE, Hytera, Hikvision, and Dahua — on the grounds that their products pose an unacceptable risk to national security.
2. Section 5949 Semiconductor List — Public Law 117-263 (3 companies; eff. Dec. 23, 2027)
   Established under Section 5949 of the James M. Inhofe National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2023 (NDAA FY2023), this list restricts U.S. federal agencies from procuring semiconductors manufactured by three named Chinese chipmakers — Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC), ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT), and Yangtze Memory Technologies (YMTC) — identified as posing unacceptable risks to national security.
3. National Academies Malign Foreign Talent Programs List — National Academies (2024) (~200 programs)
   Compiled by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM), this list identifies foreign government-sponsored talent recruitment programs — primarily from China, Russia, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) — that U.S. researchers should be aware of due to their potential to facilitate research theft, undisclosed conflicts of interest, or undue foreign influence over federally funded research.
4. CASI Defense S&T Key Labs — Air University CASI (2025) (98 labs + alternate names)
   Published by the China Aerospace Studies Institute (CASI) at Air University, this list identifies Chinese Defense Science and Technology (S&T) Key Laboratories that are formally affiliated with the People's Liberation Army (PLA) or Chinese defense industries, and that conduct research with direct military applications — making collaboration with these labs a significant research security concern.
5. FCC Covered List — fcc.gov
   Maintained by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) under the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Act of 2019, this list identifies communications equipment and services deemed to pose an unacceptable risk to U.S. national security or the security of U.S. persons, and bars their purchase using federal subsidies from the FCC's Universal Service Fund (USF).
6. DHS UFLPA Entity List — dhs.gov
   Maintained by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) under the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA), this list identifies entities operating in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) of China — or working with the Chinese government's labor transfer programs — whose goods are presumptively barred from importation into the United States on the basis of forced labor concerns.
7. DoD Section 1286 List — basicresearch.defense.gov
   Published annually by the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) under Section 1286 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019 (NDAA FY2019), this list identifies foreign academic and research institutions — predominantly Chinese and Russian — that pose a threat to U.S. national security interests and/or engage in problematic activity such as unwanted technology transfer to foreign countries of concern; the DoD explicitly states that “Caution is advised for any researcher or institution engaging with institutions on this list.”
8. DoD 1260H CMC List — defense.gov (PDF)
   Published by the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) under Section 1260H of the William M. ("Mac") Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 (NDAA FY2021), this list identifies Chinese companies determined to be operating directly or indirectly in the United States while contributing to the development and modernization of the People's Liberation Army (PLA), its weapon systems, or its military intelligence apparatus.
9. Non-SDN CMIC List — treasury.gov (PDF)
   Maintained by the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) under Executive Order 14032 (EO 14032), this list designates Chinese Military-Industrial Complex (CMIC) companies — including firms in the defense, surveillance, and aerospace sectors — whose publicly traded securities are prohibited from being purchased by U.S. persons due to their role in supporting China's military and security apparatus.
10. CSET Chinese Talent Program Tracker — chinatalenttracker.cset.tech
    Maintained by Georgetown University's Center for Security and Emerging Technology (CSET), this list documents Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and government-sponsored talent recruitment programs designed to cultivate China's domestic research workforce and recruit overseas experts — including non-Chinese citizens — to fill positions across government, industry, defense, and academia in support of China's strategic civilian and military development goals.
11. OFAC SDN List — sanctionslist.ofac.treas.gov
    The primary U.S. sanctions list, maintained by the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), designating foreign individuals, companies, governments, and organizations — including terrorists, narcotics traffickers, and proliferators of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) — with whom U.S. persons are generally prohibited from conducting any financial or commercial transactions.
12. BIS Entity List
    Maintained by the U.S. Department of Commerce's Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), this list identifies foreign individuals, companies, and organizations subject to specific license requirements — and often a presumption of denial — for the export, re-export, or transfer of U.S.-origin items, due to their involvement in activities contrary to U.S. national security or foreign policy interests such as weapons proliferation or unauthorized military end use.
13. Military End-User List
    Published by the U.S. Department of Commerce's Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), this list identifies specific foreign entities — predominantly in China, Russia, and Venezuela — that have been determined to be military end users, meaning that any export of U.S.-origin items to them requires a license that will face a presumption of denial if the items could contribute to the recipient's military capabilities.
14. BIS Denied Persons List
    Maintained by the U.S. Department of Commerce's Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), this list identifies individuals and entities whose export privileges have been formally denied or suspended as a result of violations or alleged violations of the Export Administration Regulations (EAR); U.S. persons are strictly prohibited from participating in any export transaction involving listed parties.
15. State Debarred Parties
    Maintained by the U.S. Department of State's Directorate of Defense Trade Controls (DDTC), this list identifies entities and individuals who have been formally debarred under the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), prohibiting them — and any U.S. person who knowingly does business with them — from participating in the export, import, or brokering of defense articles, defense services, or related technical data.

All hits should be verified against official sources before action is taken.