WASHINGTON — The economic and technological rivalry between the United States and China has come to the drone market, where Chinese-made flying devices are a dominant player.
Lawmakers in Washington are seeking to ban new sales of drones from two dominant Chinese manufacturers, arguing they could be used to spy on Americans and that the low-cost models are hurting the U.S. drone industry.
A defense bill that passed Congress last week would bar new Chinese drones from DJI Technology and Autel Robotics should a review find them to pose an “unacceptable” risk to U.S. national security.
But American users, from police officers to farmers, mappers and filmmakers, have come to rely on Chinese-made drones, especially those by DJI.
Here are things to know about the debate.
Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., who is President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to be U.N. ambassador, has led House efforts to ban new Chinese drones, saying Americans have become too dependent on them.
“It is strategically irresponsible to allow Communist China to be our drone factory,” she argued.
It was the role of drones in everyday life that drove Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., to get Congress to restrict the purchase of Chinese drones by federal agencies. Those restrictions were included in a bill that Democratic President Joe Biden signed last year.
Scott has compared Chinese drones to spy balloons that could “gather data or carry harmful payloads” across America, posing risks to military bases, critical infrastructure and natural resources.
DJI, named in the bill, is the best-known Chinese drone brand. The company has the lion’s share of the global drone market and is a dominant player in the U.S. market. Its drones have been used by first responders to locate disaster victims, mappers to survey roads and utility lines, mosquito control officers to reach swarms of larvae, and filmmakers to capture aerial footage.
Founded in 2006 and based in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen, DJI makes devices that are known for their affordability and high performance. They are even used on the battlefield in Ukraine by both sides, even though DJI does not make military drones.
As U.S.-China relations soured, DJI drones have come under scrutiny. The U.S. government has put the company on several blacklists citing human rights concerns as well as alleged links to the Chinese military. DJI has denied any wrongdoing, and is suing the Pentagon over the designation that it is a Chinese military company.
U.S. customs officials have also blocked some DJI shipments over concerns that the products might have been made with forced labor. DJI has called it “a customs-related misunderstanding.”
DJI has also expressed concern about the review of Chinese drones included in the defense bill., saying it doesn’t allow the company to defend itself. It called for “a fair right of reply to any findings.”
Russell Hedrick, a North Carolina farmer, flies drones to spray fertilizers on his corn, bean and wheat fields at a fraction of what it would cost him to use a conventional ground spreader. A drone spreader costs $35,000, while a ground sprayer would cost $250,000, he said.
As a volunteer rescuer, Hedrick uses thermal drones to search for people trapped by mudslides and cargo drones to send water and baby formula to those who are stranded — something he did after Hurricane Helene.
“I am not going to say I won’t love to have U.S. drones, but I don’t see the American drones as anywhere close to the DJI drones in terms of reliability, ease of use, and just the user-friendly software,” Hedrick said. “The U.S. drones are not as good as DJI ones but cost twice as much.”
At the Interior Department, the ban on foreign-made drones has resulted in a “loss of opportunities to collect data on landscape, natural and cultural resources, wildlife and infrastructure,” according to a September report by the Government Accountability Office.
Michael Robbins, president and chief executive officer of AUVSI, an advocacy group for unmanned vehicles such as drones, argues against an immediate ban. Instead, the group has urged the government to support the domestic drone-making industry through investment so it can catch up with its Chinese competitors in both capability and cost.
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