The United States government has reportedly agreed to lift a Trump-era ban on Chinese technology company Xiaomi. The company was added to the US military list of alleged Chinese military companies in January, which blocks US investment in the company.
Five days before the end of his term, President Trump’s administration added Xiaomi to the US military list under the National Defense Authorization act of 1999, designating the third-largest smartphone manufacturer in the world as a company owned by the Chinese military. As a result, American investors were barred from buying Xiaomi shares or related securities and those who already owned shares would be required to sell them by November 11.
“The Department is determined to highlight and counter the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) Military-Civil Fusion development strategy, which supports the modernization goals of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) by ensuring its access to advanced technologies and expertise acquired and developed by even those PRC companies, universities, and research programs that appear to be civilian entities,” the Department of Defense wrote in its announcement.
Xiaomi denied its connection to the Chinese military and sued to be removed from the list two weeks after it was added. As noted by Engadget, Bloomberg today reports that the United States is set to remove Xiaomi from this list.
“The Parties have agreed upon a path forward that would resolve this litigation without the need for contested briefing,” the filing reportedly states. Bloomberg says that the filing does not include any conditions for removal. At the time of publication, this information was not yet public and Xiaomi remained on the aforementioned list.
In March, a US court temporarily halted the ban and stated that it was likely that Xiaomi would win a full reversal and issued the injunction to prevent the company from suffering irreparable harm. The Pentagon, Xiaomi, nor Chinese authorities has yet to release a public comment.
It is unclear if Xiaomi’s removal will make it easier to purchase its smartphones in the United States. While its phones show a lot of promise, such as both the Mi 11 and Mi 11 Ultra, actually acquiring them is challenging for Americans.
The US military list of alleged Chinese military companies is different from the “economic blacklist” which blocks American companies from exporting parts to specific companies. While this blacklist doesn’t prevent products from being sold in the United States, it can make it harder for a company to do business in the US. DJI was added to this list in late December but does not appear to be adversely affected yet while Huawei is currently on the brink of collapse as it can no longer use the Google Play store nor new Android operating systems and has difficulty sourcing the parts it needs to produce devices.
Image credits: Header photo licensed via Depositphotos.
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