After the United States rolled out sanctions targeting Chinese-made drones, China's DJI, the world's No. 1 drone maker, and the Chinese government immediately pushed back. With not only U.S. government agencies and public institutions but also the U.S. military using DJI products, China argued that blocking certification for the sale of new devices in the United States means "the damage will fall on U.S. users."
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) said on the 22nd (local time) that it determined unmanned aircraft systems (including drones) and key components manufactured overseas pose an "unacceptable risk" to U.S. national security and public safety, and announced they were added to the FCC's Covered List.
The measure does not apply retroactively to past devices and applies at the time of certification for new devices. Retailers can continue to sell, import, and promote models that have already passed the FCC equipment certification process. The practical impact falls on foreign-made products developed in the future. Companies included on the list will be unable to obtain FCC certification for new product launches going forward, closing the door to the U.S. market. With DJI holding more than 70% of the global drone market, the move was interpreted as targeting DJI.
According to Chinese business outlet Caixin on the 24th (local time), DJI issued an immediate statement of opposition after the FCC announcement. DJI said, "We regret the FCC's decision to lump all drones not manufactured in the United States into the list," adding, "This not only restricts the freedom of choice for U.S. consumers and commercial users, but also undermines the market principle of open and fair competition." DJI also stressed that the safety and reliability of its products have been verified for years in the global market and by numerous authoritative and independent third-party organizations. It added, "We will resolutely safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of the company and users worldwide through all possible avenues of response."
According to the FCC, to obtain an exemption from inclusion on the list, a specific product must be directly verified by the Department of Defense or the Department of Homeland Security as not posing a national security risk. Caixin reported, "However, how the exemption procedure is applied for and operated has not yet been disclosed."
The Chinese government also strongly criticized the sanctions. At a briefing on the 23rd, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said, "China firmly opposes the United States excessively expanding the concept of national security and setting discriminatory lists to unfairly suppress Chinese corporations," adding, "The United States should correct this wrongful practice and ensure that Chinese corporations can operate in a fair, impartial, and non-discriminatory environment."
China's Ministry of Commerce also said the same day, "In recent years, the United States has ignored normal business transactions and trade between Chinese and U.S. corporations and turned a deaf ear to the strong appeals of industries in both countries," adding, "By overly generalizing the concept of national security, it is using state power to suppress foreign corporations, including Chinese corporations. This is a classic market distortion and unilateral bullying."
According to Caixin, U.S. government sanctions against DJI have been steadily tightened in recent years. Around 2017, concerns emerged that DJI drones could pose information security risks, and by 2020, sanctions such as bans on technology transactions were formalized. In 2022, the U.S. Ministry of National Defense added DJI to the list of corporations connected to China's military (CMC) and updated the list in Jan. 2024, but DJI was not removed. On Oct. 18 of the same year, DJI filed a lawsuit against the Ministry of National Defense in a U.S. court, but on Sept. 26 this year, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia dismissed DJI's claims.
The CMC list began to be fully implemented when the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) took effect in Jan. 2021. The list identifies and regulates Chinese military-related corporations that operate directly or indirectly in the United States. At the same time, it warns U.S. corporations that cooperating with Chinese corporations on the list could expose them to national security risks.
However, concerns have emerged about a market gap caused by the sanctions due to DJI's overwhelming market dominance. Caixin reported, "The U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and even military organizations are users of DJI drones," adding, "DJI argued that while measures to exclude it from the U.S. market might help growing U.S. drone manufacturers, for now these companies are not providing products that can replace those for existing users, and ultimately hundreds of thousands of U.S. DJI users will suffer damage."