China's Commerce Ministry warned Thursday that U.S. actions against companies such as Huawei could escalate trade tensions.

On Wednesday, U.S. President Donald Trump declared a national emergency over threats against American technology. The U.S. Department of Commerce subsequently announced the addition of Huawei Technologies and its affiliates to the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) Entity List. Now U.S. businesses will need a license to sell or transfer technology to Huawei, likely making it far more difficult for the Chinese telecom giant to conduct business with them.

We ask the U.S. to stop further actions, so Chinese companies can have a more normal environment to trade, to avoid further escalation of U.S.-China trade tensions, spokesperson Gao Feng said in Mandarin during a press conference Thursday, according to a CNBC translation.

He criticized the use of national security as a tool for protectionism, and emphasized that overseas operations of Chinese companies should respect local laws.