Two women walk past a Xiaomi store in Beijing on Jan 15, 2021. (GREG BAKER / AFP)
A US federal judge on Friday temporarily blocked the Department of Defense from forcing American investors to divest from Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi Corp.
The Defense Department, under the Trump administration in mid-January, added Xiaomi and eight other firms to a list that requires Americans to sell their interests in the firms by a deadline. The restrictions were set to go into effect next week.
Xiaomi in late January filed a complaint in a Washington court seeking to be removed from the list.
US District Judge Rudolph Contreras on Friday put a temporary halt to the ban for Xiaomi.
ALSO READ: Sanction moves expose desperation, high-handedness of likes of Pompeo