Trump’s Next Executive Orders Could Ban US Sales of Chinese Drones

The Trump administration is reportedly planning several executive orders that could ban Chinese companies like DJI and Autel from selling their drones in the US.

The orders could be signed as soon as this week, according to The Washington Post. They won’t include a flat-out ban, but the US intelligence community would be directed to accelerate existing reviews of whether Chinese drone makers pose national security risks.

In addition, the orders would reportedly require the federal government to invest in the US domestic drone industry, while also updating federal regulations about where commercial drones can legally fly. The US has its own domestic drone manufacturers, like Silicon Valley-based Skydio, but while DJI doesn’t reveal sales figures publicly, its sales likely far exceed Skydio, according to estimates.

Though photography aficionados using drones like the DJI Mini 4 Pro are unlikely to be pleased with the move, Lisa Ellman, co-founder and CEO of the Commercial Drone Alliance, told the Post that the new regulations could boost the US drone industry, adding that her organization has been lobbying “US leadership for a really long time.”

Rumblings of a potential ban on Chinese drones have been brewing for quite some time. In 2022, the US Treasury added DJI and seven other companies to its Chinese Military-Industrial Complex list, which indicates some level of national security concern and prohibits US-based companies from exporting technology to them. Since then, DJI has been locked in a legal battle with the US over its inclusion on the list.

The US military has been banned from using Chinese drones since 2018, as have police forces in Florida, Mississippi, and Tennessee. DJI also narrowly missing being banned in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) in December 2024.

About Will McCurdy

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I’m a reporter covering weekend news. Before joining PCMag in 2024, I picked up bylines in BBC News, The Guardian, The Times of London, The Daily Beast, Vice, Slate, Fast Company, The Evening Standard, The i, TechRadar, and Decrypt Media.

I’ve been a PC gamer since you had to install games from multiple CD-ROMs by hand. As a reporter, I’m passionate about the intersection of tech and human lives. I’ve covered everything from crypto scandals to the art world, as well as conspiracy theories, UK politics, and Russia and foreign affairs.

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