San Francisco: The Joe Biden administration has agreed to remove Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi from the blacklist imposed by the earlier Donald Trump administration that designated it as a “Communist Chinese military company” and barred the firm from doing business with the US firms.
Xiaomi was added to a US military list of alleged Chinese military companies in January this year. The Chinese conglomerate had filed a lawsuit against the ban.
On Tuesday, the US Department of Defense agreed to remove Xiaomi from the blacklist. The news led to over 6.5 per cent rise in Xiaomi shares.
“The Parties have agreed upon a path forward that would resolve this litigation without the need for contested briefing,” read the court filing.
In March, a US court temporarily halted the ban on Xiaomi, saying the company was likely to win a full reversal and would “suffer irreparable harm in the form of serious reputational and unrecoverable economic injuries.”
Xiaomi and the US Department of Defense will now work on a “joint proposed order” on or before May 20 to be submitted to the court.
Xiaomi had earlier reiterated that it is “a widely held, publicly traded, independently managed corporation that offers consumer electronics products solely for civilian and commercial use”.
“We are committed to working with our global partners to let everyone in the world enjoy a better life through innovative technology,” a company spokesperson had said in a statement.
“The company confirms that it is not owned, controlled or affiliated with the Chinese military, and is not a ‘Communist Chinese Military Company’ defined under the NDAA. The company will take appropriate course of actions to protect the interests of the Company and its shareholders”.
In July 2020, the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) designated Chinese telecom companies, Huawei and ZTE, as national security risks to America’s communications networks.