According to the Financial Times, the US government will place eight Chinese companies on an investment blocklist for their alleged involvement in the Uyghur Muslims. US citizens will not be allowed to make investments in the firms because they will be put on the list on Tuesday.
The Department of Commerce's Entity list means that American companies can't sell components unless they have a license. The government said at the time that it was one of the companies that enabled abuses in China. The US has not banned the sale of DJI drones.
The latest moves are part of an effort by US President Joe Biden to sanction China for its treatment of Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities. Cloud computing firms and facial recognition companies that operate in the region will be added to the list.
The US House and Senate passed a bill yesterday that would ban imports from Xinjiang if companies could not prove they were not made using forced labor. The upper chamber of Congress will vote on it before the holiday.
Early in the year of 2021, Xiaomi was placed on the blocklist. It fought the decision because it said that no of its principals were connected with the Chinese military and that a lack of US investment would cause immediate and irreparable harm. The ban was lifted in May.
The consumer drones market was dominated by DJI in 2020. The company has released two key products over the last two months, the large-sensor 3 drone and the full-frame Ronin 4D cinema camera. Customers in America can continue to buy and use DJI products, despite the fact that it has been placed on the Entity list.
