US government adds DJI to economic blacklist

The US Commerce Department adds Chinese drone company DJI on its economic blacklist along with other Chinese companies.

As spotted on the Commerce department website, it has added 77 more Chinese companies, including China’s largest chipset manufacturer SMIC. Other additional companies on the list are AGCU Scientech, China National Scientific Instruments and Materials, and Kuang-Chi Group.

The companies on the list are deemed contrary to theUnited States’  national security or foreign policy interests.  These actions include enabling human rights abuses, supporting the militarization and unlawful maritime claims in the South China Sea, acquiring U.S.-origin items in support of the People’s Liberation Army’s programs, and engaging in the theft of U.S. trade secrets.

Based on Reuters’s report, these companies “enabled wide-scale human rights abuses within China through abusive genetic collection and analysis or high-technology surveillance.”

Previously, Bloomberg reported that DJI drones are reportedly being used for surveillance of the Uyghurs in Xinjiang, a Muslim ethnic minority group who mostly live in the mentioned province.

Earlier this year, the U.S. Interior Department said it was grounding its fleet of about 800 Chinese-made drones and earlier halted additional purchases of such drones.

In May 2019, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security warned U.S. businesses of the risks to company data when buying Chinese-made drones.

U.S. lawmakers opted not to ban the purchase of Chinese drone technology by U.S. agencies this month as part of an annual defense bill.

DJI is yet to make a statement regarding this matter.

For the full list of the additional US blacklisted companies from China, click here.

Sources: Reuters, US Department of Commerce, Bloomberg