Chinese drone developer DJI added to Commerce Department ‘Entity List’

The US Commerce Department announced Friday that Chinese chipmaker SMIC and a bevy of other Chinese-based technology companies have been added to its Entity List, which includes vendors banned from trading with US companies on the grounds of national security. 

According to reports, drone developer DJI Technology is among the companies that were just added to the list, presumably for its role in providing drones to the Chinese government.

Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said the Entity List restrictions are “a necessary measure to ensure that China, through its national champion SMIC, is not able to leverage US technologies to enable indigenous advanced technology levels to support its destabilizing military activities.”

“We will not allow advanced US technology to help build the military of an increasingly belligerent adversary.  Between SMIC’s relationships of concern with the military industrial complex, China’s aggressive application of military civil fusion mandates and state-directed subsidies, SMIC perfectly illustrates the risks of China’s leverage of US technology to support its military modernization,” said Ross. 

Chinese tech giant Huawei has been the US Entity List since May 2019. In August, the US government expanded its restrictions on Huawei by barring it from purchasing chips made by foreign manufacturers using US technology. The US also put a ban on US companies from buying, installing, or using foreign-made telecommunications equipment, citing cyber-espionage fears. 

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