According to Reuters, U.S. President Trump signed an executive order on the 18th local time, aiming at Chinese-made drones again. He asked for an assessment of the safety risks of Chinese drones used by the fleets of U.S. agencies and instructed that “prefer to exclude Chinese drones as a matter of priority”.
The Governor of Chang’an Street (WeChat ID: Capitalnews) noted that the drone manufacturers who were “specially taken care of” by Trump this time mainly came from China, Russia, Iran and North Korea, most of which came from products from countries regarded as competitors and hostile countries by the U.S. government.
The order said: “The policy of the United States is to prevent taxpayers’ money from purchasing drones with great risks, especially those made by American counterparties or containing key components produced by rivals. It is necessary to encourage the United States to make its own drones.
Trump also instructed government agencies to assess what measures can be taken to “mitigate security risks” and even quickly remove drones if necessary.
Trump has long been afraid of Chinese drones. In December 2020, the U.S. Department of Commerce blacklisted dozens of Chinese companies for import and export control on the grounds of “protecting the national security of the United States”. These include Dajiang, China’s largest drone manufacturer.
Dajiang’s drone products account for 70% of the U.S. market. The U.S. Interior Department ordered more than 800 drones to ground on the name of “possibly be used for espionage”, although the company said that customers have “full control” of all data on its drones.
The Wall Street Journal revealed that all the drones banned were made in China or used Chinese parts.
The U.S. Department of the Interior uses drones extensively to manage U.S. territory and natural resources.
Because Chinese-made drones have strong patrol capabilities, they play an irreplaceable role in monitoring the environment, assisting in rescue and monitoring forest fires.
In the summer of 2020, an unprecedented wildfire broke out in California, burning large areas of land.
According to foreign media, the memorandum of the Air Service Office of the U.S. Department of the Interior shows that due to the ban on the purchase of Chinese-made drones, the department will only carry out a quarter of controlled combustion (a way to stop the spread of wildfires).
In the end, the fire completely got out of control.
On December 18 last year, Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said that this was another example of the United States’ use of state power to suppress Chinese enterprises, which China firmly opposes.
Wang Wenbin said that the United States politicizes economic and trade issues, contrary to its consistent boasted market economy and fair competition principles, and international trade rules.
It not only harms the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese enterprises, but also does not meet the interests of American enterprises.
It will seriously interfere with the normal scientific and technological exchanges and trade exchanges between the two countries and the world, and the global Industrial chain, supply chain and value chain cause damage.
