Ask whether DJI is banned in the United States and you will get a different answer from a hobbyist, a federal contracting officer, a public-safety agency, and an importer. They are all correct. The question has no one-word answer because the restriction landscape is not a single ban — it is six distinct legal instruments enacted by four different federal bodies plus individual states, each with a different scope, different affected parties, and a different enforcement mechanism. Collapsing them into a headline does readers a disservice. Here is the precise map.

Layer 1 — Export Controls: What the Entity List and NS-CMIC List Actually Do

The oldest restriction is also the most misunderstood. On December 18, 2020, the Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security added DJI to its Entity List alongside 76 other companies. The stated rationale was enabling "wide-scale human rights abuses within China through high-technology surveillance" in Xinjiang. The practical effect of Entity List placement is narrow: it restricts U.S. companies from exporting technology to DJI under a presumption-of-denial standard. It does not ban Americans from buying, owning, or flying DJI hardware. DJI remained on the list through mid-2026.

A year later, in December 2021, the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control added DJI to its NS-CMIC list — the Non-SDN Chinese Military-Industrial Complex Companies list — on the grounds that DJI operates "in the surveillance technology sector." NS-CMIC designation bars U.S. persons from trading DJI-linked securities. It has no effect on drone purchases or operations. Both measures are real legal jeopardy for companies doing business with DJI at a corporate level; neither grounds a single DJI Mavic sitting in a backpack.

A third Commerce rule would have reached further. A proposed ICTS (Information and Communications Technology and Services) rule targeted core systems in already-owned DJI drones and could have made operating existing hardware illegal. It was withdrawn in early January 2026, with press reporting linking the move to broader US-China diplomacy. Had it survived, it would have been the most disruptive measure by a wide margin. Its withdrawal is why the current landscape, though complicated, is less severe than it looked in late 2025.

Layer 2 — Federal Procurement and the DoD Blacklist

The American Security Drone Act, enacted as part of the FY2024 NDAA signed December 22, 2023, bars federal agencies from purchasing or using drones manufactured in China, Russia, Iran, or North Korea. Operational prohibitions took effect in December 2025. The scope is precise: federal agencies only. State governments, local law enforcement, commercial operators, and private individuals are untouched by ASDA.

Separately, DJI has been on the Department of Defense's Section 1260H Chinese Military Companies list since the FY2021 NDAA. The listing drew a legal challenge that produced an instructive ruling. On September 26, 2025, U.S. District Judge Paul Friedman ruled against DJI — but rejected the Pentagon's primary arguments. The court found no evidence of Chinese Communist Party ownership or control through the Chengtong holding company that DoD had cited, and concluded the Pentagon had confused two different industrial zones. DJI's listing survived only on a narrow residual ground: its "National Enterprise Technology Center" designation, which confers government subsidies and tax breaks, was deemed sufficient to qualify as "receiving assistance from the Chinese government," reinforced by the dual-use nature of the technology.

DJI said it was "disappointed that the court nonetheless upheld the listing" on the basis of "a single rationale that applies to many companies that have never been listed." — DJI statement after the 1260H ruling

DJI appealed to the D.C. Circuit in October 2025; that appeal remains pending. The practical consequence of the 1260H listing is that, from June 30, 2026, DoD is barred from contracts with listed entities and their affiliates. The DoD list is updated regularly — the most recent revision was June 8, 2026.

Layer 3 — The FCC Covered List: Bureaucratic Inaction as Policy

The most consequential current restriction has an origin story unlike any of the others. Section 1709(a)(1) of the FY2025 NDAA gave a defined set of national security agencies — DHS, DoD, ODNI, NSA, and FBI were eligible — exactly one year, ending December 23, 2025, to determine whether DJI and Autel drones posed "an unacceptable risk" to national security. DJI understood the stakes clearly. Its own blog warned in December 2024: "If no agency conducts a study to determine risk within one year, the legislation states that DJI and another Chinese manufacturer would automatically be added to the FCC's Covered List."

No agency completed the review. The trigger fired.

On December 21, 2025, an interagency "National Security Determination" was issued. The following day, the FCC added covered UAS and UAS critical components to its Covered List — but went considerably beyond what the statute required. Where Congress had specified DJI and Autel, the FCC covered all foreign-produced UAS and UAS critical components, including data links, flight controllers, ground control stations, navigation systems, sensors, batteries, and motors. Wiley Law's analysis flagged the scope as broader than the statutory text. DJI and Autel were additionally singled out: covered even if production migrates to U.S. soil or through domestic joint ventures.

The FCC drew a critical line: the action does not affect consumers' ability to keep using drones they already own. Existing pre-December 22 FCC equipment authorizations are grandfathered. New FCC authorizations for covered products are blocked. In January 2026, the FCC quietly revoked certain DJI and Autel authorizations that had been granted just before the deadline — specific models were not announced. As of mid-2026, DJI lines including the Mavic 3 Enterprise, Matrice 4 Enterprise, and Dock remain authorized and operational. Blocked new products include the Osmo Pocket 4.

The FCC subsequently issued exemptions. Effective January 7, 2026: a federal-sale-only exemption covering Blue UAS-listed products, and a Buy American exemption for products with at least 65 percent domestic component cost (rising to 75 percent after 2028), both running through January 1, 2027. A blanket waiver issued January 21, 2026 preserves the ability to push software and firmware updates to previously authorized covered UAS through the same date. The first four Conditional Approvals under the DoD/DHS acceptable-risk pathway were granted March 18, 2026 — SiFly Q12, Mobilicom SkyHopper, ScoutDI Scout 137, and Verge X1. None are DJI products.

DJI's Legal Counterattack and the Forward Lockout

DJI filed a reconsideration petition with the FCC on January 21, 2026, and separately petitioned the Ninth Circuit for review in February 2026, arguing the agency action was "procedurally and substantively flawed," that no threat finding was ever made, that the process denied due process (no pre-deprivation notice), and that the FCC exceeded its statutory authority. In April 2026, DJI's Ninth Circuit filing quantified the financial exposure: roughly $1.56 billion in 2026 alone, comprising $700 million from 14 existing products and $860 million from 25 blocked product launches.

DJI's core legal argument is direct: the FCC can add products to the Covered List only when they present a national security threat, and in DJI's telling, no agency ever investigated its products or identified such a threat. The DoD responded by urging the FCC to reject the reconsideration petition, characterizing DJI as an "unacceptable risk." The reconsideration comment window closed April 6, 2026. Both the Ninth Circuit challenge and the DoD blacklist appeal remain pending as of this writing.

States have moved independently. Florida's SB 44, enacted June 2021, required state and local agencies to migrate off non-approved drones by January 1, 2023; the approved list consists of Skydio, Parrot, Altavian, Teal, and Vantage Robotics. Florida's law is government-only — private and commercial operators in the state can still buy and fly DJI freely. A Department of the Interior analysis estimated the sidelined equipment at roughly $200 million, with replacements costing eight to fourteen times the price of equivalent DJI hardware. A promised security analysis to justify the policy remained unpublished eighteen months past its due date as of November 2025. Arkansas passed similar agency restrictions; other states are watching.

The furthest-reaching potential restriction is not yet law. The FAA's proposed Part 108 rule, published as an NPRM in August 2025, would limit BVLOS airworthiness acceptance under §108.700 to aircraft manufactured in the United States or countries with bilateral agreements. No UAS bilateral agreements currently exist, which would mean de facto exclusion of DJI from the entire future BVLOS market if the rule is finalized as written. Industry comments have urged removal of the provision. A June 2025 executive order — "Unleashing American Drone Dominance" — directed agencies to source U.S. drones "to the maximum extent permitted by law" and ordered monthly updates to the Blue UAS list, reinforcing the directional pressure.

The Bottom Line by User Type, June 2026

  • Recreational and Part 107 operators: No ban. Existing authorized DJI models — including the Mavic 3 series, Matrice 4 Enterprise, and Dock — may be purchased, owned, and flown. No grounding orders exist; no remote disablement has occurred or been announced. Firmware updates are protected through January 1, 2027.
  • Federal agencies: Barred from procuring Chinese-made drones under ASDA. DoD additionally subject to the 1260H contract bar from June 30, 2026.
  • State and local government: Depends on state law. Florida and Arkansas have agency restrictions; most states do not. No federal mandate applies.
  • Importers and retailers: New DJI models cannot obtain FCC equipment authorization and cannot be legally imported or marketed. Products authorized before December 22, 2025 may continue to be sold until existing inventory is exhausted.
  • Enterprises planning BVLOS operations: If Part 108 §108.700 is finalized without amendment, DJI aircraft will be ineligible for BVLOS airworthiness acceptance regardless of other authorizations.

DJI still holds more than 70 percent of the U.S. commercial and consumer drone market. The gap between that market share and the legal landscape reflects the narrowness — so far — of the restrictions that have actually taken effect. The January 1, 2027 waiver expiry, the Ninth Circuit ruling on the FCC challenge, the D.C. Circuit ruling on the 1260H appeal, and the Part 108 final rule are the four events that will determine whether that gap closes.

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