US CBP Agents Halt Some DJI Drone Imports Over ‘Forced Labor’ Concerns 

Chinese drone manufacturer SZ DJI TECHNOLOGY CO LTD., commonly known by many pilots as “DJI,” is the world’s largest drone maker. It produces billions of dollars worth of drones each year, which end up in the hands of US consumers, government agencies, and/or on the modern battlefield in Eastern Europe. 

DJI is a privately held company. It has received funding from state-owned enterprises in China and is classified as a “Chinese military company” by the US Department of Defense, according to the think tank Uyghur Human Rights Project, adding it supplies more than half of all drones in the US and is the most recognizable drone brand among consumers. 

However, a new report from Reuters says the popular drone brand has faced difficulties importing various drone models into the US after the US Customs and Border Protection used the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA). 

DJI notified US importers via a letter that the CBP stopped some drone imports from entering the US because CBP agents were verifying documentation that the drones were in good standing with UFLPA. In other words, border agents were making sure the drones were not produced by forced labor in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China. 

The letter told importers that the action appeared to be “part of a broader initiative by the Department of Homeland Security to scrutinize the origins of products, particularly in the case of Chinese-made drones,” adding that the US government’s claims are “unsubstantiated and categorically false, but the law gives them the authority to withhold goods without any tangible evidence.”

Data from Sayari, a top counterparty and supply chain risk intelligence provider, shows DJI has seven major risk factors. It has exposure to a Xinjiang-based entity with forced labor concerns. 

“The entity possibly owns (minority, majority, or wholly) a Xinjiang-based entity up to 3 hops away via direct shareholding relationships with 10% or more controlling interest, including beneficial owner, owner, shareholder, partner, subsidiary, or branch. Applicable to entities globally,” Sayari noted in the DJI profile. 

DJI products are also widely used by US government agencies. US lawmakers have sounded the alarm (read: Senators Introduce Bill To Blacklist Chinese Drones In The US) on the widespread use of these drones by consumers and government agencies, warning these unmanned systems are national security threats.  

Meanwhile, state-run Chinese media outlet Global Times spoke with Lü Xiang, a research fellow at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, about the incident first reported by Reuters, criticizing Washington for “adopting the ridiculous and discriminatory UFLPA to crack down on the drone maker.” 

Xiang told GT, “By doing so, the Biden government may aim to protect the US dronemaking industry. However, the unreasonable move by the US could spark further concerns worldwide over future China-US relations.” 

What drone industry is the Biden admin protecting for consumers? We can’t name one affordable US-based drone company that is as good or exceeds DJI in performance.