A big blow to China's Huawei. In a move that's sure to ramp up tensions, the Trump administration moved Friday to block global chipmakers from shipping semiconductors to the world's second largest smartphone manufacturer.

The Commerce Department will require foreign companies using U.S. chipmaking equipment to obtain a U.S. license before they could supply certain chips to Huawei or its affiliates. It said the move "cuts off Huawei's efforts to undermine U.S. export controls."

The reaction from China was swift with a report saying it was ready to put U.S. companies on an “unreliable entity list.” Possible measures include launching investigations and imposing restrictions on U.S. companies such as Apple, Cisco Systems, Qualcomm as well as suspending purchases of Boeing airplanes.

Huawei, which needs semiconductors for its widely used smartphones and telecoms equipment, is at the heart of a battle for global technological dominance between the United States and China.

Huawei did not immediately comment on Friday.

The U.S. has been trying to convince its allies to exclude Huawei from next generation 5G networks. Washington contends Beijing could use Huawei's equipment for spying, a claim Huawei repeatedly denies.