US officials seem bored. The Chinese DJI brand, which we know especially for its drone products, was blacklisted by the USA on suspicion of having direct connections with the Chinese state, and the brand objects to this situation.
More than half of US commercial drones are sold by DJI, and the company even published a blog post saying it has zero data to send to the Chinese military and that operators must choose to share that data with the drone manufacturer.
Unfortunately, this did not convince the US Department of Defense to delist DJI, Reuters reported. The company says it has suffered a serious financial loss and that this situation is wrong.
As a result of the embargoes, which DJI claimed were an ‘illegal and misguided decision’, the company lost business deals, was branded a national security threat and was banned from contracting with multiple federal government agencies. Both U.S. and overseas customers terminated their contracts with DJI and opted out of renewing existing contracts, resulting in a damaged reputation and reduced revenue.
DJI said it filed the lawsuit after the U.S. Department of Defense failed to contact the company for more than 16 months, leaving it with no alternative but to pursue damages in federal court. The US government is working at lightning speed to restrict Chinese companies from doing business with the country. As tensions rise between the world’s two largest economies, companies are putting their livelihoods at risk.
In May, LiDAR manufacturer Hesai filed a lawsuit against the US. Fortunately, the US Department of Defense removed Hesai from that list, but says it will add it back to the list if the company poses a risk to national security.
Source: www.teknolojioku.com
