Legislative proposals would restrict the use of drones manufactured by DJI from being used in the United States.

Recently there have been efforts in Congress to restrict or limit the usage of Chinese manufactured drones over fears they are a threat to national security. Legislation like, Drones for First Responders, was introduced earlier this year by Congresswoman Elise Stefanik (R-NY) which would “implement a new tariff on Chinese-controlled drones” and use the revenue from those tariffs to help first responders and others purchase American-made drones.

Similarly, Congresswoman Stefanik has introduced the Countering CCP Drones Act, which would bar DJI drones from using Federal Communications Commission (FCC) communication infrastructure. This legislation was recently added to the Senate National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) by an amendment in the committee markup. Similarly, in the House-passed NDAA, there is a provision that bans the sale of DJI drones in the United States.

It is worth noting that neither of these bills have been signed into law. Both chambers need to go to conference and work out the differences between their bills. However, we need to hear from you! Is your construction company currently utilizing DJI drones? If so, what would this mean for your company?

For additional information, please contact Alex Etchen at [email protected].