DJI, the world’s pre-eminent producer of unmanned aerial autos, has initiated formal authorized proceedings in opposition to the US Federal Communications Fee (FCC), alleging {that a} latest prohibition on its know-how is “procedurally and substantively flawed”.
In a petition submitted to the US Court docket of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, the Shenzhen-based company contends that the regulator failed to supply any credible proof of nationwide safety dangers earlier than designating the agency a “lined entity” in December. The classification successfully forestalls the authorisation of all future DJI fashions on the market inside america, threatening the corporate’s hegemony in a market the place it accounts for upwards of 70% of the patron and industrial sectors.
The litigation represents a big intensification of the continuing technological decoupling between Washington and Beijing. DJI argues that the FCC’s dedication violated each constitutional due course of and federal regulation by denying the corporate a significant alternative to contest the allegations.
“Regardless of exhaustive efforts to interact with the related authorities, DJI has been afforded no alternative to scrutinise or refute the purported safety considerations,” the corporate mentioned in an announcement issued on Tuesday. It additional asserted that the restrictions “indiscriminately” deprive American customers of refined flight know-how, with implications starting from hobbyist use to vital purposes in emergency providers and the agricultural sector.
The ban, which took impact on 23 December 2025, adopted an expansive revision of FCC protocols concentrating on foreign-manufactured telecommunications tools. Whereas the laws usually are not retroactive—permitting present homeowners of fashions such because the Mini 4 Professional to proceed operations—the moratorium on new approvals prevents DJI from introducing any subsequent {hardware} to the American market.
Authorized observers counsel the crux of the case could lie in whether or not the FCC adhered to the mandates of the 2025 Nationwide Protection Authorization Act, which required a proper safety audit of the producer. DJI strenuously maintains that no such audit was ever carried out.
The corporate is at present engaged in a number of parallel authorized disputes within the US. It’s concurrently interesting in opposition to a Pentagon designation that characterised it as a “Chinese language army firm”, a standing DJI has repeatedly rejected, insisting it stays a personal enterprise with no institutional ties to the Folks’s Liberation Military.
The FCC’s “lined record” already contains a number of outstanding Chinese language entities, together with Huawei and ZTE. US officers have lengthy articulated fears that DJI {hardware} might facilitate clandestine surveillance or compromise vital infrastructure—considerations which have spurred a “Purchase American” initiative inside federal companies.
Nevertheless, the ban has drawn criticism from home industries. 1000’s of economic operators and agricultural corporations have reportedly begun stockpiling parts, warning that Western options are steadily extra expensive and lack the technical sophistication of their Chinese language counterparts.
A spokesperson for the Chinese language overseas ministry, Lin Jian, remarked that Beijing “firmly opposes” the US “overstretching the idea of nationwide safety” as a pretext to suppress Chinese language industrial pursuits.
The litigation is predicted to be a protracted affair, though DJI is broadly anticipated to hunt an interlocutory injunction to droop the ban whereas the court docket considers the deserves of the case.
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