Chinese drone giant DJI faces the risk of a partial US market ban in less than 100 days, with Washington yet to begin a mandated security audit tied to last year’s defence budget.

Under the law, DJI and fellow Chinese drone manufacturer Autel Robotics must pass a government technology review before December 23, 2025.

If they don’t, their new products will be blocked from receiving FCC equipment authorisations.

Existing DJI drones would remain legal to use, but the brand would gradually lose market share as models aged out.

Adam Welsh, DJI’s Australia-based global head of government affairs, said he had travelled to Washington to press his company’s case directly.

“We’ve made attempts to set up meetings with five national security agencies, but none yielded results,” he told Nikkei Asia. DJI also sent letters in March and July, including to the Pentagon, but responses were “largely muted”.

DJI controls roughly 70% of the global drone market and about 80% in the US.

A Bard College study found that nine in ten drones used by US public safety agencies in 2020 were DJI-made.

David Benowitz, head of research firm DroneAnalyst, said DJI still has “little competition for consumer drones”.

However, he also pointed out, “Government agencies are adding in these new US products that are more designed for purpose, but they’re a little bit more expensive as well. So there’s a trade-off there.”

DJI’s dominance of America’s drone market seems to be drawing to a close

Scrutiny of Chinese-made drones only seems to be intensifying. The U.S. Commerce Department initiated a Section 232 probe in July into imported drones and components, which could ultimately result in higher tariffs.

Since October 2024, US Customs has blocked DJI imports under the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act. DJI denies the allegation, but the ban has nevertheless left US inventories depleted.

DJI is currently suing the Pentagon to remove its name from a list of firms alleged to support China’s military.

“We’re not trying to escape scrutiny,” Welsh said. “If the audit is done fairly and it looks at the technical aspects to security, then we should be able to pass if it’s done in a fair and unbiased manner.”

It remains to be seen how fair and unbiased Trump’s America-first administration is likely to be when it comes to the strategically important drone industry.

With drones proving decisive in Ukraine, Washington appears keen to put a thumb on the scale for local manufacturers and build up a much stronger domestic drone industry.