DJI Will Be Banned in the US in 43 Days as the Government Does Nothing

DJI is facing an outright ban in the United States if an audit mandated by the National Defense Authorization Act doesn’t take place. The government has not started the audit despite the fact that it has been almost a year, and even if it does so now, that doesn’t mean DJI is in the clear.

DJI breathed a sigh of relief last December when the Countering CCP Drones Act was not included in the FY25 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that passed in the United States Congress that month. It wasn’t outright banned, but instead the NDAA mandated that a “risk assessment” audit would need to take place in the next year before a final determination could be made. If DJI didn’t pass that assessment, it would face a ban.

From day one, DJI has welcomed that audit, but for nearly a year, the company has seen no movement by the US government to even start the risk assessment. In April, DJI warned that if the assessment wasn’t started soon, it would be possible that it wouldn’t be given a fair shake as auditors would feel rushed.

“We welcome the scrutiny and are confident that our products can withstand their strictest scrutiny. We feel strongly that the people who have built livelihoods using DJI products deserve a fair and timely evaluation to lift the cloud on our company and reassure DJI’s customers and the American public that DJI’s drones are safe and secure,” a DJI spokesperson wrote in an email to PetaPixel at the time.

Two months later — and with just six months remaining before the timeline for the audit would expire — DJI again urged the relevant agencies to start the audit they were mandated to enact.

“If no agency steps forward and completes the review by the December 2025 deadline, the NDAA provision could trigger an automatic ban on DJI – through no fault of our own, but simply because no agency chose to take on the work of reviewing our products,” DJI said.

There was no movement on the issue until July, when DJI learned that lawmakers wanted to compress the timeline for the audit to 30 days.

“Although there has been no formal indication that the mandated review process has begun, a recent push from lawmakers on July 10 urged the Office of the Director of National Intelligence to complete the review within 30 days. This call for urgency is welcomed in principle but raises serious concerns about compromising the review’s credibility,” DJI said.

“A credible assessment must allow time for evidence to be reviewed, and it must include meaningful opportunities for engagement, clarification, and responsible dialogue. We urge policymakers to uphold the intent of the law by ensuring that this review is transparent, grounded in evidence, and not rushed. Reconsidering the proposed timeline is essential to enable a more thorough review – one that builds trust and constructively addresses concerns.”

The first part of that quote is important because there was no indication that the review process had begun, and now, with just 43 days before the time frame expires, DJI says it still has not begun.

“The audit was never formally assigned to any U.S. agency in the NDAA bill, and no agency has taken up the responsibility — despite our constant requests for a fair and transparent audit all year,” DJI writes in a post on Instagram today.

Now, the very real outcome of a ban on DJI looms.

“DJI could be banned in the U.S. without just cause or due process.”

Despite the compressed timeline, DJI is still calling the U.S. government to take the mandated action of a risk assessment because “without it, DJI products could face an automatic ban through no fault of our own.”

DJI is already facing a soft ban on imports — just looking at the lack of new DJI products in the United States this year is proof of the issue. That ban could, and likely will, quickly harden, however. Even if the U.S. government does perform the audit, that doesn’t mean it would rule in DJI’s favor either.