On October 18, DJI, the leading Chinese drone manufacturer, filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) after being placed on a blacklist preventing U.S. citizens from investing in the company. The organization argues that the designation linking it to the Chinese military is erroneous and has resulted in significant financial losses.
DJI is recognized as the largest drone manufacturer globally, responsible for over half of the commercial drone sales in the United States. In 2022, the DoD expanded its blacklist to include 13 Chinese companies, including DJI, in a move aimed at countering China’s military-civil fusion strategy.
According to a report by Reuters on October 19, DJI stated that it had not had any communication with the DoD regarding the blacklist for over 16 months, which prompted the company to initiate legal action. They remarked, “We had no choice but to seek assistance from the federal court.”
The lawsuit requests that the court order DJI’s removal from the DoD’s list, which officially classifies the company as a “Chinese military company.” DJI asserts that it is “not owned by or under the control of the Chinese military.”
In its filing, DJI claims that the “illegal and misleading decisions” by the DoD have led the company to “lose business opportunities, be stigmatized as a national security threat, and be barred from entering into contracts with multiple federal agencies.” The company further reported that both U.S. and international clients have terminated existing contracts and are unwilling to sign new ones.
Reuters noted that the DoD did not respond to requests for comments regarding the lawsuit.
Additionally, DJI informed its distributors that U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) had detained some of its drones, citing violations related to the Uighur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA), thus halting their entry into the United States. DJI has emphasized that more than half of all drones in the U.S. are manufactured by them and asserted that their production processes do not involve forced labor. The company mentioned that it is providing documents to U.S. Customs to demonstrate compliance with the UFLPA regulations.
