Chinese firm DJI, the world’s largest drone manufacturer, has sued the US Federal Communications Commission for adding it to a blacklist which restricts sales in the United States, the company said on Feb 25.
DJI has faced growing scrutiny from Washington in recent years, including for its alleged role in surveilling ethnic minorities in China and its drones reportedly being used extensively by both sides in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The company said in a statement sent to AFP that it had filed a petition contesting the “addition of DJI’s communications and video surveillance equipment to the Commission’s ‘Covered List’”.
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) said in December it had updated its Covered List – communications equipment and services deemed to post an unacceptable risk to US national security – to include unmanned aircraft systems produced abroad.
DJI said on Feb 25 that the lawsuit, filed at the US Ninth Circuit, will challenge FCC’s decision, which according to the drone maker prohibits it from marketing, selling and importing new products into the US.
“The FCC can add products to the Covered List only when they present a national security threat, yet it has never identified any threat associated with DJI or its products,” the company said, adding that the US had not given it the opportunity to refute any of its concerns.
The US Commerce Department said early 2025 it was considering new rules to address risks posed by drones made with technology from foreign adversaries such as China and Russia.
Beijing’s foreign ministry responded in fury, accusing the US of “generalising the concept of national security”.
DJI sued the US Department of Defence in 2024, complaining that Washington had “erroneously” included the company on a Chinese military company blacklist.
The Pentagon added DJI to its list of Chinese military-linked companies in 2022.
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