DJI dodged US drone sales ban, but not for long

Chinese drone manufacturer DJI managed to avoid a sales ban in the United States. This is because the Countering CCP Drones Act was removed from the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2025 (NDAA) approved by the US Senate Armed Services Committee. But the blocking can be introduced automatically a year after the law is signed by the US President.

Image source: DJI

If DJI fails to satisfy regulators that its products “do not pose an unacceptable risk to the national security of the United States,” which the “appropriate national security agency” must state publicly, then, according to the NDAA, the FCC will be required to add DJI drones, as well as products from rival drone maker Autel Robotics, to its blacklist under the Secure and Trusted Communications Act. Trusted Communication Networks Act of 2019). Inclusion on this list means that this equipment is prohibited from operating on US networks. In addition, the FCC does not have the authority to authorize the use of internal radios from blacklisted companies in the United States, thereby effectively blocking the import of their products.

The NDAA defines the possibility of using not only drones, but also communications and video surveillance. Therefore, DJI devices with a radio or camera, such as the DJI Osmo Pocket 3, will also be prohibited from import into the United States. However, US citizens are not prohibited from continuing to use their existing DJI gadgets.

DJI also will not be able to circumvent the law by releasing its drones under other brands or licensing its technology, as was done in the case of the Anzu Robotics Raptor and Cogito Specta. The bill would direct the FCC to also blacklist “any subsidiary, affiliate, or partner” and “any entity with which such entity has a technology sharing or licensing agreement.”

So it now depends on the administration of the new US President Donald Trump whether DJI will continue to trade in the country.

DJI expressed concern in a blog post that the law does not specify a government agency that would be tasked with determining whether the Chinese company’s drones pose a threat to US national security or not. “This means that DJI will not be able to launch new products into the US market simply because no agency has chosen to undertake the work of reviewing our products,” the company writes. In this regard, DJI is asking the US Congress to select a “technically oriented agency to ensure that the assessment is based on evidence” and also to give it the opportunity to appeal the agency’s decision if it disagrees.