Congress Excludes Countering CCP Drones Act from 2025 NDAA

After more than 18 months of fighting a drone sale ban in the US, DJI has earned some legislative relief. The Countering CCP Drones Act, despite passing the House of Representatives earlier this year, was left out of the FY2025 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).

The Countering CCP Drones Act was introduced by Republican Congresswoman Elise Stefanik in April 2023. It would have placed mega drone manufacturer DJI on an FCC-maintained list of companies that pose a risk to national security. This would have barred DJI from making sales in the US and potentially even revoked its existing FCC approvals.

The bill passed the House of Representatives in September and moved over to the Senate. Supporters hoped that it would be lumped in with the fiscal year 2025 NDAA, allowing it to be made an official law. Congress blocked these plans by finalizing the NDAA without including the Countering CCP Drones Act.

DJI is not in the clear yet, however. The NDAA requires an unspecified “appropriate national security agency” to conduct a risk assessment on Chinese-made drones within the next year. If it is not completed before the period expires, DJI will immediately be slapped onto the FCC Covered list and be banned from the US market.

While DJI is thankful for the brief break, the company has expressed concerns over the risk assessment decision.

“The legislation unfairly singles out drones manufactured in China and does not designate an agency to conduct the required risk study,” the company stated. “DJI should be provided with a fair opportunity and allowed due process in order to either validate or address any potential findings from the assessment, as no technology audit is ever perfect.”

DJI now has a busy year ahead if it wants to stop the ban threat once and for all.

FMI: www.dji.com