US Removes Xiaomi From DoD Blacklist

Chinese smartphone giant Xiaomi shares have risen over 6 percent after United States agreed to remove it from a blacklist.

Back in January during the final few days of US President Donald Trump, nine Chinese firms were added to a Department of Defence blacklist of companies with alleged ties to China’s military.

The blacklisted firms included Xiaomi and oil giant CNOOC, and came after President Trump had in late 2020 signed an executive order that banned US individuals and organisations from investing in companies on the list.

DoD blacklist

That included telecoms equipment maker Huawei, chip manufacturer SMIC, drone maker DJI, and China’s three largest telecoms operators.

Now on Tuesday, the US Department of Defense has agreed to remove the designation of “Communist Chinese military companies” or CCMC for Xiaomi.

Xiaomi is the world’s third largest smartphone maker in shipments behind Samsung and Apple, and it had filed a legal challenge against the US Department of Defense and its designation that prevented American investors from buying shares or related securities in a company with the CCMC tag.

Legal victory

And in March Xiaomi won a legal challenge when District Judge Rudolph Contreras put a temporary halt to the ban.

The US judge blocked the DoD from restricting US investment in Xiaomi, saying at the time that the company would “suffer irreparable harm in the form of serious reputational and unrecoverable economic injuries.”

Trade tensions between the United States and China have been ongoing for several years, but intensified in the final months of Trump’s presidency.