After blacklisting in 2020 and 2021, drone giant DJI reportedly says some of its imports are being blocked by US Customs

The US government is taking action against China-based DJI, who drones have allegedly been used for the surveillance of Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang and other ethnic minorities.

DJI told Reuters on Wednesday that US Customs and Border Protection has stopped the imports of some its drones from entering the American market.

It should be noted that DJI and the other Chinese firms were placed on the US “entity list” since 2020 – a blacklist that effectively prohibits US companies from doing business with them.

Drone imports

Then in December 2021 the US Treasury Department  added DJI and seven other Chinese firms to an investment blacklist, in response to the surveillance allegations against minorities in mainland China.

The US Treasury said at the time that private firms were “actively co-operating with the government’s efforts to repress members of ethnic and religious minority groups”.

Now according to this week’s Reuters report, it saw a letter, in which DJI notified distributors that US Customs and Border Protection is citing the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) in withholding some drones from being imported into the United States.

The UFLPA of June 2022 is designed to combat what the US government calls forced labour abuses directed at Uyghurs and other Muslim minority groups in China’s Xinjiang region. It prohibits US imports of goods produced wholly or in part in the Xinjiang or produced by certain entities.

DJI,which sells more than half of all drones in America, and reportedly said no forced labour is involved at any stage of its manufacturing process. It told Reuters it was providing Customs with documentation verifying its compliance with UFLPA.

DJI said in its letter the action appeared to be “part of a broader initiative by the Department of Homeland Security to scrutinise the origins of products, particularly in the case of Chinese made drones.”

The letter called the claims “unsubstantiated and categorically false, but the law gives them the authority to withhold goods without any tangible evidence”.

Security concerns

According to Reuters, American lawmakers have repeatedly raised concerns that DJI drones also pose data transmission, surveillance and national security risks, but DJI has rejected these allegations.

Last month, the US House of Representatives voted to bar new drones from DJI from operating in the United States, and the bill awaits US Senate action.

Last month, the Commerce Department said it was seeking comments on whether to impose restrictions on Chinese drones that would effectively ban them in the United States – similar to proposed restrictions on Chinese vehicles.

“We’re looking at drones that have Chinese and Russian equipment, chips and software in them,” US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo reportedly told CNBC.