China-based DJI and Autel Robotics could be banned from selling new drones in the United States market under an annual military bill set to be voted on later this week by the US House of Representatives. The 1,800-page bill says a national security agency must determine within one year if drones from DJI or Autel Robotics pose unacceptable national security risks.
DJI, the world’s largest drone manufacturer that sells more than half of all US commercial drones, said in response that, if no agency completes the study, it would be automatically added to the Federal Communications Commission’s “Covered List.”
That would mean the company “would be prevented from launching new products in the U.S. market through no fault of its own, but simply because no agency chose to take on the work of studying our products,” it said.
DJI said Chinese drones are unfairly singled out for scrutiny, saying it has “proactively submitted its products to regular independent security audits and expanded the range of built-in user privacy controls in our consumer and enterprise drones.”
In September, the US House voted to bar new drones from DJI from operating in the US The Commerce Department is considering whether to impose restrictions on Chinese drones that would effectively ban them in the U.S., similar to proposed Chinese vehicle restrictions. In October, DJI sued the Defense Department for adding it to a list of companies allegedly working with Beijing’s military, saying the designation is wrong and has caused the company significant financial harm.