US government imposes trade ban on DJI and Chinese processor manufacturer SMIC

The US government has banned US companies from trading with the largest Chinese processor manufacturer, SMIC. Drone maker DJI would also have ended up on the list.

Due to the listing, which also includes Huawei, US companies are no longer allowed to do business with or purchase products from SMIC, says the US Department of Commerce. The reason for the trade ban, according to the US Department, is the link between the company and the Chinese military. “There is evidence of activity between SMIC and units of concern in the Chinese military organization.” The ministry does not want to provide further information. A few weeks ago it was rumored that the US government wanted to put SMIC on the list.

In addition to SMIC, drone maker DJI would also end up on the list, DroneDJ reports. The ministry itself has not published anything about this and the list of dozens of new companies has not yet been published. The reason would be that DJI has played a role in human rights violations and oppression of population groups in China.

The entity list is a list of individuals and companies with which US companies and companies using US government technology are not allowed to trade. A year and a half ago, Huawei entered that list, which means it is no longer allowed to put Google services on Android smartphones. It is not yet clear what the consequences will be for SMIC and DJI.