Americans will be unable to buy the latest and greatest drones because the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has banned foreign-made drones as of today.
On Monday, the FCC added drones to its Covered List, which it says are communications equipment and services “that are deemed to pose an unacceptable risk to the national security of the United States or the security and safety of United States persons.” The list was already populated by Kaspersky, ZTE, Huawei, and others.
An FCC fact sheet [PDF] about the ban released on Monday says:
UAS [unmanned aircraft systems] and UAS critical components, including data transmission devices, communications systems, flight controllers, ground control stations, controllers, navigation systems, batteries, smart batteries, and motors produced in a foreign country could enable persistent surveillance, data exfiltration, and destructive operations over US territory, including over World Cup and Olympic venues and other mass gathering events.
People can still use Chinese-made drones they already own, and drones from DJI and other foreign countries that were previously approved by the FCC will still be available for purchase. However, the FCC won’t approve any new devices from companies that make drones and aren’t based in the US.
The FCC said that its decision came after a review by “an Executive Branch interagency body with appropriate national security expertise that was convened by the White House.”
Ban takes off
Drones have been under legislative and social scrutiny for years. They’ve been targeted as potential national security threats, as well as criticized for their ability to be used to invade people’s privacy, be disruptive, and dangerously enter restricted airspace, and for their roles in property destruction.
A ban on consumer drone imports gained serious momentum after the US House of Representatives and US Senate passed the 2025 National Defense Authorization Act, including a Countering CCP Drones Act, late last year. At the time, DJI and other affected companies were given a year to convince “an appropriate national security agency” that their devices posed no national security risk.