Shenzhen’s top seller fights back after being “accidentally killed”!

Who would have thought that the game between the United States and Shenzhen's leading automaker DJI Innovations Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "DJI") has lasted for more than eight years from the beginning to today, and it seems that it is far from over.

Recently, the storm has escalated again ...

DJI is included in the CMC sanctions list without reason and launches a counterattack

On October 16, Eastern Time , the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, citing the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA), believed that DJI used forced labor to manufacture its products, so it detained some drones and banned them from entering the local market.

On the 17th, DJI responded to the incident and said that the entire process of its product manufacturing does not involve forced labor and fully complies with the relevant laws currently in force in the United States. Therefore, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection has no reason to detain DJI's drones.

DJI also stated that the company has sufficient evidence to prove that the US allegations against it are "groundless and absolutely false", and is actively cooperating with US Customs to provide the necessary documents to prove its compliance with the UFLPA.

On the 18th, DJI formally filed a lawsuit with the U.S. Department of Defense for being "erroneously included in the Chinese Military Enterprise CMC Sanctions List", and emphasized that the company's civilian drones are specially designed for consumer and commercial use and are not used for military purposes.

In addition, in a lawsuit filed with a district judge in Washington, DJI requested the US Department of Defense to remove it from the "CMC Sanctions List" on the grounds that the US's "illegal and wrong decision" made without verification caused huge financial losses to the company.

According to Reuters, being included in this blacklist means sending a warning to US entities and companies that "if they continue to do business with DJI in the future, it may pose a security risk to the country."

After this incident, DJI not only lost business deals and was deemed a national security threat, but was also banned from signing contracts with multiple federal government agencies. According to the lawsuit, many US and international customers have terminated existing contracts with DJI and refused to sign new contracts.

The U.S. Department of Defense did not respond to DJI’s request. DJI has been trying to communicate with the department for more than 16 months, but it has been deaf and dumb to the issues mentioned in the lawsuit. Based on this, DJI said that it seems to have no other choice but to seek relief in federal court and file a lawsuit.

The United States has been suppressing DJI for many years on the grounds of "data security risks"

In fact, the United States has been trying to find ways to suppress DJI drones for several years, from initially banning their use in the U.S. military, judicial agencies, and fire departments, to later introducing relevant laws to ban their sale.

If we talk about the love and hate between the United States and DJI , it can be traced back to eight years ago.

Public information shows that in 2016, US lawmakers proposed several times to restrict DJI products from entering the United States.

In 2017, the US Department of Defense listed DJI on the sanctions list on the grounds that "DJI drones may pose risks such as 'data transmission, surveillance and national security'" and launched a year-long sanctions against it.

In 2019, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security banned the use of federal funds to purchase DJI drones. In the same year, DJI was included in the U.S. list of products subject to "increased punitive tariffs." DJI had no choice but to raise the price of its products, which was the highest at $230 at the time. However, this did not affect its sales.

In 2020, the United States announced that it would include DJI on the "Entity List" for export control on the grounds of "violating US national security."

During 2021-2022, the United States was well aware that administrative means were not enough to fight DJI, so it came up with new tricks such as patent infringement traps to make things difficult for it.

In one of the lawsuits, "Textron, a U.S. military helicopter manufacturer, sued DJI," a federal jury in Waco, Texas, ruled that DJI needed to pay $278.9 million in compensation. However, during this process, DJI always denied patent infringement and filed a lawsuit against Textron in the United States, launching a strong counterattack. In the end, the two parties reached a settlement and the compensation amount was invalidated.

At the beginning of 2024, American politicians could no longer sit still. Under the banner of "protecting the domestic UAV industry in the United States", they called on relevant departments to impose higher tariffs on Chinese drones and drones from other regions entering the United States.

In June, the "Countering Chinese Drones Act" was included in the 2025 U.S. National Defense Authorization Act. However, before DJI could comment, thousands of U.S. representatives stood up to oppose the bill.

In September, the U.S. House of Representatives again proposed a new bill to ban the operation of new drones produced by DJI on U.S. communications infrastructure, implying a ban on their sale in the U.S. Currently, the bill is still awaiting review by the Senate.

The new bill was proposed just over a month ago, and the United States recently detained some of DJI’s drones without reason.

DJI was the first to express its opposition to the new bill in September, and actively asked fans to "stand in support" in a message. After the product was detained, DJI directly sued the US Department of Defense, which can be said to be getting braver with each battle.

Despite various sanctions, DJI remains popular

When talking about DJI's status in the United States, an industry insider pointed out that "DJI drones are so powerful that the United States can't do anything about it for the time being."

Public data shows that DJI is the world's largest drone manufacturer. Its drones are widely used in agriculture, infrastructure, public safety and other fields in the United States . Its contribution to the total sales of commercial drones in the United States is far more than half.

Although the United States has been suppressing DJI in recent years and trying to ban its sales in the United States, some people have come up with alternative ideas in this environment - "If you are not allowed to buy, then we will rent." Since then, some people have even opened DJI drone rental companies.

Some local law enforcement officers also pointed out that the price of American drones is three or four times that of Chinese drones, and the technical level is limited, which is one of the reasons why DJI drones are so popular in the United States. Therefore, some people said that even if the US government raises tariffs, it will not delay their purchase of DJI drones. With the support of most local users, DJI has become more and more upright.

In addition, according to the Wall Street Journal, DJI accounts for approximately 70%-90% of the drone market in the United States for commercial, local government and amateurs. Especially in the field of emergency rescue, Chinese drones have a market share of as high as 92%.

The New York Times also claimed that DJI drones are often used in rescue operations and exercises, and some volunteer rescuers pointed out that they can help speed up rescue operations.

As of March this year, there were 966 drones registered with the state police and sheriff's departments in Texas, of which 879 were produced by DJI. Of the remaining 87 drones not produced by DJI, 56 were produced by Chinese companies or companies affiliated with China. At the same time, the proportion of American farmers using DJI drones is as high as 80%.

Based on the above series of data, it may be too early for the United States to get rid of its dependence on China, especially DJI drones. It is still unknown how long the game between the two will last, but Ennet will continue to pay attention to the follow-up situation.