- News Report claims that the White House Executive Order Banning of Chinese Drones Sales is imminent
- DJI claims its products are fully safe and that it welcomes the control
- DJI has already postponed the launch of Mavic 4 Pro in USA
According to reports in the United States, the Trump administration may be issuing a total ban on US sale of Chinese-made drones. While it may sound like disastrous news for them like DJI, it can actually give it an excellent opportunity to finally clean up any lingering doubts about security risks.
The Washington Post claims that the White House, this week, will issue more executive orders that could lead to companies such as DJI effectively prevented from selling new models in the United States.
Assuming that the reports are true (and taking into account that Trump has turned on some proposed customs and trade policies), this would be the latest developments in an ongoing cold war between US governments and Chinese drone companies.
It is one that precedes the current administration as well. Last December, one of Joe Bid’s last actions as president should sign the National Defense Authorization Actorization Act, section 1709, of which mandates, that “within a year of adoption, a designated national security agency must evaluate whether communication and video surveillance equipment from [Chinese drone] Manufacturers pose ‘an unacceptable risk’ of US national security or security of US citizens. “
American politicians have often made sweeping, some vague statements that suggest that data collected by Chinese -made drones could be used for the purpose of addressing American security or commercial interests. And the aforementioned law tasks USA’s security apparatus to definitively find out if this is the case.
“We welcome this control.”
So far, the Trump administration has not yet awarded any of the five national security agencies to take up this task. However, DJI seems eager for the process to begin as soon as possible. Back in March, the DJI leader of the global policy of Adam Welsh wrote an open letter to the Agency’s heads with a request that “Anyone or all Of your agencies ”the evaluation begins right away.
“We welcome this control,” Welsh wrote. The letter continued: “DJI is convinced that its products can withstand your strictest control. We are sure not only because we have nothing to hide, but because independent companies and other US public agencies have repeatedly validated and confirmed that DJI’s products are safe.”
Welsh outlined that the company had implemented a number of measures to ensure its drones keep user data secure. For example, Flight Dogs, Photos and Videos are not synchronized with DJI servers unless a user chooses to do so, and US-based users cannot synchronize floating records with DJI servers at all.
DJI drones also have local data mode that cuts any connection between the Flight app and the Internet, while the app allows users to manage their data, use third-party software and easily delete information about the drone.
Welsh continues to point out the financial knock-on effect that the reduction in sales of DJI drones could have on the US economy and claims that DJI enables more than $ 116 billion in economic activity across the country while supporting almost half a million jobs.
If the Trump administration were to implement a carpet ban, it could be as a means of increasing the domestic US drone industry, which currently seems to represent a small proportion of us drone sales compared to DJI and Autel. While it is clear that the US drone industry could use a help, the US residents would really be happy to be forced to buy far more expensive drone hardware just because it was not made in China?
DJI, like many non-American companies, is already experiencing problems due to the Trump administration’s carpet-duty or, more precisely, the confusion about, if they will actually be introduced or not. The company refers to this uncertainty and has postponed the launch of its excellent new flagship camera drone, DJI Mavic 4 Pro, in the United States.
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