Lawmakers demand DOJ probe into efforts by DJI to prevent US drone ban, price rise

Republican leaders on the Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party are urging the Department of Justice (DOJ) to open an investigation into the Drone Advocacy Alliance (DAA). The industry coalition group has been actively involved in the discussion surrounding the potential ban on DJI drones in the US and has vehemently opposed legislation that proposes a new tax system to radically increase DJI drone prices.

Committee Chairman John Moolenaa and Congresswoman Elise Stefanik have penned a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland, imploring him to probe the DAA for potential violations of the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA). The key concern for lawmakers is that the DAA is sponsored by the Chinese drone maker DJI, and as such, it might be required to register as a foreign agent.

“FARA is intended to protect US national security by requiring enhanced transparency into certain activities of organizations operating in the US on behalf of foreign entities, including lobbying to influence US policy,” the lawmakers write in their letter.

“CCP-controlled drone company DJI is sponsoring and using the Drone Advocacy Alliance to market DJI drones as critical lifesaving tools that do not pose risks to US national security. However, the opposite is the case. DJI is directly facilitating genocidal crimes, arming the Chinese military, and advancing the strategic objectives of the CCP, an adversary that threatens US national security,” the lawmakers say.

Stefanik is the lead sponsor of legislation that aims to practically ban all DJI drones in the US by blocking them from using American communications infrastructure. More recently, Stefanik has proposed a bill that would impose a new 30% tax on drones manufactured and shipped from China, thereby increasing the price of DJI and Autel aircraft. This tax would further increase annually by 5%, with the eventual goal of an outright import ban on Chinese drones by 2030.

Stefanik believes her legislation will increase the competitiveness of US drone manufacturers and enhance national security. The DAA, on the other hand, has termed the proposed DFR Act as bad policy that puts public safety at risk.

The advocacy group points out that despite its name, the DFR Act would limit the drones first responders will be able to use, which they currently pick based on what best suits their needs.

“These agencies use drones manufactured in China to provide situational awareness, support SWAT operations, map crime scenes, identify hotspots in wildfires, and find missing people. Yet this bill will limit choices for many first responders by imposing higher costs and eventually by banning the import of the best and most popular drones altogether, which will put lives at risk,” the DAA says.

In addition, the proposed taxes will disproportionally impact small businesses and hobbyists. In 2023, an independent survey of commercial drone service providers in the US showed that 67% of businesses would be forced to shut down without access to drones manufactured in China due to cost and operational capability gaps in the market.

The Drone Advocacy Alliance further states that the DFR Act uses national security as a cover for protectionism and sets an unrealistic 5-year timeline for the US industry to match the production and capability needs of domestic drone users.

The issue here is that the bill has listed so-called critical components that are restricted only if they are included in a fully assembled product shipped from China. If the same components are sent to the US separately and assembled afterward, they would essentially avoid the scanner.

As the DAA explains:

This discrepancy demonstrates that the component restrictions in the DFR Act are not based on any actual security vulnerability but rather designed solely to restrict market access. In doing so, the bill’s supporters show their true intentions, which are bailouts for uncompetitive drone manufacturers by taxing small businesses and hobbyists.

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