China Hit Hard After FCC Bans All Foreign Made Drones Over National Security Concerns

China’s drone industry is expected to be significantly impacted by this move by the FCC.

This week, the FCC announced that it will ban the importation and sale of all foreign-made drones in the United States.

In an unprecedented move, the FCC took action due to foreign drones posing a national security risk.

The majority of drones that come into the United States are from China.

Politico broke the story and provided an in-depth report:

The Federal Communications Commission on Monday blacklisted all new foreign-made drones and components over concerns the equipment poses “an unacceptable risk” to national security — ensnaring Chinese drone-maker DJI after long-time concerns that the tech gives Beijing a foothold inside U.S. critical infrastructure.

The tech was placed on the commission’s “Covered List,” barring DJI and other foreign drone manufacturers from receiving the FCC’s approval to sell new drone models for import or sale in the U.S. In Monday’s announcement, the agency said that the move “will reduce the risk of direct [drone] attacks and disruptions, unauthorized surveillance, sensitive data exfiltration and other [drone] threats to the homeland.”

FCC Chair Brendan Carr said in a statement that while drones offer the potential to boost public safety and the U.S.’s posture on global innovation, “criminals, terrorists and hostile foreign actors have intensified their weaponization of these technologies, creating new and serious threats to our homeland.”

The ruling comes as China hawks in Congress amplify warnings about the security risks of drones made by DJI, which accounts for more than 90 percent of the global market share. But efforts to crack down on Capitol Hill have been met with some pushback due to the potential impacts of curbing the drone usage on U.S. businesses and law enforcement. A wide variety of sectors, including construction, energy, agriculture and mining companies, as well as local police and fire departments across the country, deploy DJI-made drones.

But the rule won’t ground the thousands of unmanned aircraft already deployed in the U.S. The FCC said Monday that the decision “does not affect drones or drone components that are currently sold in the United States,” according to the agency, meaning that drones previously authorized by the FCC are still usable. A spokesperson for the FCC did not immediately respond to questions about potential plans to retroactively ban foreign-made drones or components.

China hawks on Capitol Hill celebrated the ban Monday. Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) said in a post on X that the ruling “will unleash U.S. drone dominance and protect our nation from the Chinese Communist Party.” The House China Committee also endorsed the move on X.

The FCC just banned all new models of foreign made drones, cameras, and other devices. According to President Trump, 'criminals, terrorists, and hostile foreign actors have intensified their weaponization of these technologies, creating new and serious threats to our homeland'. pic.twitter.com/wp6bpM0aRN

— Mike Moloney (@moloneymike) December 23, 2025

Before the FCC made the move, Senator Rick Scott noted the U.S. Secret Service previously bought its drones from China, posing a major security risk:

The United States may have shot down one of Communist China’s spy balloons, but America’s problem of surveillance from foreign powers is far from destroyed.

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Many Americans were alarmed as we watched the Biden administration take a dangerously lazy approach to taking down the Chinese spy balloon. We are right to be upset about this, and demand action in response, but that balloon is just a small piece of Communist China’s massive surveillance effort targeting you, our military and American businesses.

The harsh reality is that the Chinese Communist Party has been surveilling the United States for years using drones purchased with your taxpayer dollars and operated by your federal government.

As if the army of Chinese drones being operated by the feds isn’t bad enough, the U.S. government continues to stand idly by while Chinese-made drones from companies like Da Jiang Innovations (DJI) and Autel Robotics completely dominate the civilian drone market, with DJI producing over 50% of the drones on the marketplace alone. And they’ve hired some high-powered lobbyists to convince Washington politicians and bureaucrats to keep it that way.

For years, I’ve been sounding the alarm on the risks that Chinese-made drones pose to U.S. national security. Xi Jinping and his communist regime are on a quest for global domination and will use any means to accomplish that – stealing, cheating, spying, and funding technology like drones made by DJI, to spy on Americans and infiltrate our government.

We’ve made progress, but I won’t stop until every single Chinese-made drone is ripped from the inner workings within our government and replaced with drones made in the United States of America.

I’ve introduced the American Security Drone Act to prohibit the U.S. government from purchasing drones manufactured in countries identified as national security threats, like Iran and Communist China.

Then my Countering CCP Drones Act is the next step to ensure that federal funds from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) cannot be used to obtain communications equipment and services produced or provided by DJI.

These bills build on my previous efforts to prohibit the military from purchasing Chinese-made drones. In 2021, I worked with my colleagues in Congress to include in the National Defense Authorization Act a requirement that the Pentagon update regulations on drone technology that make it easier for American drone makers to compete against Chinese drone manufacturers, like DJI.

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The federal government has also made some critical moves, including the Treasury Department ban of U.S. investment in DJI and the Department of Defense putting DJI on its “Chinese military companies list” in October, which monitors companies working with China’s military. But it doesn’t go far enough.

The U.S. Secret Service continues to purchase Chinese-made drones, and federal funds are being used at an alarming rate for the purchase of these risky drones in state and local agencies across the country.