(Reuters) -President Donald Trump's administration has ordered U.S. firms that offer software used to design semiconductors to stop selling their services to Chinese groups, the Financial Times reported on Wednesday, citing several people familiar with the move.

Electronic Design Automation groups, which include Cadence, Synopsys ( SNPS ) and Siemens EDA, were told by the Commerce Department to stop supplying their tech, the report added.

The Bureau of Industry and Security issued the directive to the companies, according to people cited in the Financial Times report.