The US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is adding DJI to its “Covered List”, barring the importation of all new drone models from the Chinese drone maker. In addition, the body also added Autel and other foreign-made drones and components to its list.
The FCC’s Covered List is essentially a list of companies that the US consider to pose unacceptable risks to its national security. That said, the designation does not prohibit the import, sale or use of any existing device models the telecom regulator had authorised prior, and does not impact any drone models purchased before the move, allowing US consumers to continue using drones they purchased legally.
DJI is obviously unhappy with the FCC’s move, and understandably so. The company did point out that while it wasn’t singled out, it was not told what information was used for the US executive branch to reach its decision.
Unsurprisingly, the Chinese government wasn’t happy with its Western counterpart’s decision either, accusing them of applying an “overly broad interpretation of the concept of national security” and setting up “discriminatory lists”.
This clearly isn’t the first time DJI has been a US list of sorts that limits its drone reach in the US market. In 2021, the US Treasury Department added the brand, along with seven Chinese companies, to a blacklist, accusing the company of having a hand in the crackdown and oppression of China’s Uyghur Muslims in the Xinjiang region.
In 2024, DJI filed a lawsuit against the US Department of Defense (DOD) over what it said were false accusations and wrongful listing of it being a “Chinese Military Company”, leading to it suffering unfairly, financially.
(Source: Reuters)
