With six more days in office, the Trump administration has decided to put another Chinese electronics giant in its sights: Xiaomi, the world’s number three phone maker. The U.S. Department of Defense now identifies Xiaomi as a “Chinese Communist military company,” meaning it is now vulnerable to Trump’s executive order banning the U.S. from investing in such companies – and could allow U.S. companies and other U.S. investors forced to sell in Xiaomi on November 11, 2021, as reported by Reuters.
Although a Biden administration may reverse the order before then, it is interesting to see an electronics company like Xiaomi on the list at all. Most of the other companies on the list are more industrial oriented and specialize in aviation, aviation, shipbuilding, chemicals, telecommunications, construction and other types of infrastructure. Huawei, the world’s number two phone maker, is also on the list, but Huawei is also building large-scale telecommunications equipment; U.S. lawmakers are particularly concerned about Huawei being part of the country’s cellular infrastructure (see also: ZTE).
This list, by the way, is not the same as the “entity list” of the US Department of Commerce, which usually deters US companies from exporting technology to blacklisted companies, such as drone maker DJI. But some Chinese companies like Huawei (and Chinese chipmaker SMIC) are now on both lists.
Speaking of the Department of Commerce, he is trying to stop six entire countries, now designated as ‘foreign adversaries’, from providing communications equipment to the United States at all, including China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, Cuba and the United States. government of Nicolás Maduro of Venezuela.
Xiaomi did not immediately respond to a request for comment.