Lawmakers in Washington are pushing to block a Chinese drone maker from getting American technology. Fifteen Republicans sent a request to the Pentagon on Dec. 18 to cut off exports of U.S. tech components to Chinese drone maker DJI.
This Chinese company is the world’s largest drone maker. It makes over half the drones sold in America. Some U.S. law enforcement agencies—including Maryland—also use DJI drones.
The concern is that these drones could send sensitive American data directly to Beijing.
DJI denies those accusations. The Pentagon declined to comment.
The Commerce Department added DJI to its blacklist in 2020. Any American company looking to export components to DJI must apply for export licenses from the U.S. government.
But lawmakers say a recent teardown of DJI drone revealed parts that were made in the Untied States, which means the U.S. government had approved export licenses of American tech to the company.