DJI escapes US drone ban – but could be automatically banned if Trump doesn’t step in

US Senate Has passed The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), the annual defense spending bill, and it could have big consequences for the world’s largest drone company — though not necessarily the immediate ban that China’s DJI had feared.

even though it wasn’t fully stocked “Combating CCP Drones Act” Provisions that would have immediately blocked the import of DJI products into the United States instead trigger a one-year countdown until its products (and those of rival drone maker Autel Robotics) arrive. Automatically Banned.

If DJI cannot convince “an appropriate national security agency” to publicly declare that its products “do not pose an unacceptable risk to the national security of the United States”, the Act would allow the FCC to block DJI’s gear. Instructs you to add to your “Covered List”. Secure and Reliable Communications Networks Act. That list not only prevents that gear from running on US networks, but it also prevents the FCC from authorizing its internal radios for use in the US, effectively blocking all imports.

While none of this will prevent US citizens from continuing to use their existing DJI gadgets, it just won’t ban the import of new DJI drones into the United States. Every DJI product with a radio or camera, e.g. the verge Favorite DJI Osmo Pocket 3Would be technically banned. (The NDAA doesn’t just specify drones, but also communications and video surveillance equipment.)

text of bill (See PDF, pages 1084-1088) In theory, this should prevent DJI from exploiting loopholes by whitelabeling its drones under other brand names or licensing its technology. As it was happening with the Anzu Robotics Raptor and Cogito SpectaThe bill explicitly calls on the FCC to add “any subsidiary, affiliate, or partner” and “any entity with which the designated entity has a technology sharing or licensing agreement” to the covered list.

The bill has already passed the House of Representatives and is headed to President Biden’s desk, where it is considered necessary to sign: It would trigger a partial government shutdown if not signed, and it is subject to strong bipartisanship. It has already passed both houses of Congress with support.

So it will really be up to the Trump administration whether it wants to bail out the Chinese drone company in the next year after it takes office. If Trump would like to see fewer DJI products in the country, he wouldn’t need to lift a finger, so the ball is in DJI’s court. It wouldn’t be surprising if DJI attempted to go head-to-head with Trump in the near future – Like TikTok, which is facing ban soon,

in a blog postDJI calls it “good news” that the NDAA does not explicitly ban DJI products, but says the US government is taking apart Chinese drones for investigation, and there is concern about the fact that the law actually Does not designate a government agency to carry out the task of determining whether a risk arises.

“This means that DJI will be prevented from launching new products in the US market through no fault of our own, but simply because no agency did the work to study our products,” the company writes. It is asking Congress to “choose a technically focused agency to ensure that the assessment is evidence-based” and give the company an opportunity to respond.