BYD electric buses Credit: DKMcLaren, Creative Commons Citing security concerns, the White House and Congress have been stepping up their efforts to restrict Chinese telecommunications and transportation companies from operating or selling goods in the United States. The moves come at a time when relations between the two countries have soured over the handling of the Covid-19 pandemic. President Trump on Thursday threatened new tariffs against China for its alleged cover-up of the outbreak before it spread globally. Tariffs have been the biggest weapon in the ongoing trade dispute between the two counties and remain in force on up to $370 billion in Chinese imports. But recently, the federal government has also been busy enacting laws and taking new regulatory actions aimed at the American operations of Chinese companies, including the telecom giant Huawei and some of China’s biggest state-owned phone service providers.  U.S. authorities have also taken aim at C