The Trump administration has penalized dozens of Chinese companies in previous months by adding them to the so-called entity list over national security concerns related to advanced technology and alleged human rights violations against Muslim minorities in the Xinjiang region. But this is the first time that the administration has used the entity list in relation to China’s encroachment in the South China Sea, which stretches south of Hong Kong and borders the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and other countries.

Companies added to the entity list will no longer be able to buy technology and other products shipped from the United States, “whether a toothbrush or a semiconductor,” without first obtaining special permission to do so, said Kevin Wolf, an international trade partner at Akin Gump. While companies can request a license to continue selling to firms on the entity list, such requests are often denied, the Commerce Department said.

The State Department also announced that it would begin imposing visa restrictions on Chinese citizens “responsible for, or complicit in, either the large-scale reclamation, construction, or militarization of disputed outposts in the South China Sea.” Such individuals would be barred from the United States, and their family members may also face visa restrictions, the announcement said.

China had claimed a U-2 spy plane entered a no-fly zone without permission during a naval drill in the Bohai Sea, a military source told the South China Morning Post. The Pentagon has given few details, but said a U-2 flew "within the accepted international rules and regulations governing aircraft flights."

The State Department announced the blacklist Wednesday morning. Immediate family members of those targeted may also be barred from travel to the United States, the department said.

At the same time, the Commerce Department reported that it had added 24 state-owned Chinese enterprises, including subsidiaries of the China Communications Construction Company, to its commercial blacklist for their roles in constructing artificial islands and other activities that cause major environmental damage and infringe on other nations' claims.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a statement that the travel ban would apply to Chinese individuals "responsible for, or complicit in, either the large-scale reclamation, construction, or militarization of disputed outposts in the South China Sea, or (China's) use of coercion against Southeast Asian claimants to inhibit their access to offshore resources."

Greg Poling, a South China Sea expert at Washington’s Center for Strategic and International Studies, told Reuters that the U.S.' latest sanctions probably won't "make much impact on those entities directly ... but it could be the start at trying to convince Southeast Asian partners that the new policy is more than just rhetoric."

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