In one of his last moves as President, Trump has decided to add DJI to the entity list. Effectively banning DJI from selling its products in the US and working with US companies. That is the same list that Huawei was added to, last year.
DJI was put on the list over its alleged ties to the Chinese government. And now it is deemed a national security risk.
This ban is set to go into effect immediately, when the list is updated at 11:15AM ET. Which means that stores like Amazon and Best Buy won’t be able to sell its drones and other products.
With this news, the Commerce Department is citing human rights concerns. And this is due to the fact that DJI is providing drones to the Chinese government, and that’s why DJI is being banned. DJI drones were used to surveil Uighurs in the Xinjiang province way back in 2017. And given China’s history, this should come as no surprise.
Drones aren’t a new threat to the US government
The US Government isn’t just now thinking that drones are a national security threat. This has been a threat for a few years. But it is only now that the government is working to ban DJI. Which is the biggest drone maker in the world right now. And makes plenty of popular consumer drones too. Like the DJI Mavic Mini.
The Justice Department had already banned the government from buying foreign-made drones, like those that DJI makes.
It is currently unclear whether President-Elect Biden will keep DJI and other companies on the Entity List once he takes office on January 20. President Trump has really been going after China during his term, which many Americans agree with, given how China treats America and the rest of the world. But Biden may look to work with China in a more peaceful way. Instead of just banning its most popular companies.