DJI Flip purchasers have shared issues with getting their drones through customs and into the United States, echoing similar issues experienced after the Air 3S launch in October. It appears that this issue has not gone away and seems it will likely not go away any time soon.
A DJI customer reached out to DroneDJ to share their concern over their DJI Flip drone taking weeks to clear customs. Sadly, they were not the only ones to have this issue; it has actually become a long-term problem that many now seem to accept as the new normal.
A quick search through user forums will show plenty of customers sharing their issues of orders being stuck at ports of entry as Customs and Border Protection holds the drones before clearing them of any issues. The problem at hand? CBP, for some reason, believes that DJI is assembling its drones using forced labor in the Xinjiang region of China.
DJI refutes that claim, as their only manufacturing facilities are in Shenzhen and Malaysia.
However, the new CBP policy to hold DJI products, which became noticeable after the Air 3S release but has spread to many other drones like the Flip and Mini 4 Pro, is linked to the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act.
“DJI’s supply chain undergoes rigorous due diligence audits by respected U.S. retailers. Their findings have consistently found that there is no evidence of forced labor within our supply chain,” DJI said in a blog post back in October.
While DJI is hoping to resolve the issue, it doesn’t seem to be going anywhere any time soon. Many customers, including the one that reached out to us, have initiated refunds. However, refunds cannot be processed according to DJI support messages seen by DroneDJ until after the product is returned to its warehouse. This cannot be done while the drone is stuck in customs, leading to chargebacks being the only next step.
What is there to do if your drone is stuck in customs
Well, it doesn’t seem to be a permanent prison for DJI’s drones as we have not seen a case that hasn’t been cleared. However, it can take weeks, even more than a month, for orders to move on and into the hands of those who purchased the product.
DJI and many delivery services don’t take into account customs checks in their delivery timelines. So if you’re ordering a product that is not already in a US warehouse, the delivery timeline given by DJI might be wrong.
Sadly, there are not many customers or the delivery service can do to move the CBP along. Only CBP agents can make the decision when a product is cleared for import, and only DJI has the paperwork and information needed to hopefully clear this issue once and for all.
Customers are then stuck waiting it out, feeling stressed if they need the drone for a job or for those ordering them as gifts.
If you’re in the market for a new DJI drone, unless you are ordering it from a third-party retailer that has it in their own warehouse, you might want to add a few weeks to your delivery expectations in case you have a deadline for when you need it.
What caused the change in CBP policy?
No official reason has been shared as to why DJI drones are now subject to this law, as the law is not new and DJI is not listed under the UFLPA Entity List.
However, while there is a new administration in Washington as of January 2025, the policy shift can occur as early as October 2024, long before President Trump took power or won the election.
The policy change also came long before DJI removed No-Fly Zones from its DJI Fly app in favor of the FAA’s system.
Anti-China sentiment, including a pending ban of DJI products if no security study is completed, has been a large bipartisan issue. That is not expected to change any time soon.
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