Electric air taxi maker Archer hits back at Joby in countersuit alleging concealed Chinese ties | TechCrunch

"Archer further alleges that Joby tried to conceal its "deep ties" to China by fraudulently misclassifying thousands of pounds of Chinese-origin aircraft materials as consumer goods - labeling them as hair clips, socks, and photo albums - to evade U.S. tariffs and foreign-influence oversight."

"The counterclaim, filed in federal court, alleges Joby relied on a Chinese manufacturing subsidiary to source critical components from Chinese suppliers with Chinese government support."

"The countersuit comes four months since Joby sued Archer over allegations of trade secret theft. In that lawsuit, filed in November in the Superior Court of California in Santa Cruz County, Joby alleges that former Joby employee George Kivork took trade secrets with him when he left to join Archer, which then used them."

Archer Aviation filed counterclaims against Joby Aviation in federal court, alleging that Joby defrauded the U.S. government and competitors by falsely presenting itself as an American company. The counterclaim asserts that Joby relied on a Chinese manufacturing subsidiary to source critical aircraft components from Chinese suppliers with Chinese government support. Archer further alleges that Joby concealed its ties to China by fraudulently mislabeling thousands of pounds of Chinese-origin aircraft materials as consumer goods—including hair clips, socks, and photo albums—to evade U.S. tariffs and foreign-influence oversight. Joby, founded in 2009 in Santa Cruz, California, maintains its headquarters there while operating facilities in multiple U.S. cities and internationally. Joby's attorney dismissed the counterclaims as nonsensical. This countersuit follows Joby's November lawsuit against Archer alleging trade secret theft by a former Joby employee.

Read at TechCrunch