DJI has sued the US Federal Communications Commission after the agency added Chinese drones and certain related equipment to its “Covered List,” a designation that blocks new FCC equipment authorizations and effectively prevents the importation and sale of new, newly modified, or newly authorized models in the United States. DJI filed its challenge in the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, according to court and media reports published Feb. 24.
The FCC updated the Covered List on December 22, 2025, after a national security determination tied to provisions in the FY2025 National Defense Authorization Act. In the agency’s public order, the FCC said the action did not affect consumers’ ability to keep using drones they already bought legally and did not bar retailers from continuing to sell devices that already hold FCC authorization.
DJI argues the FCC overstepped its authority and imposed restrictions without identifying a specific national security threat tied to DJI or its products. The company also says the process did not give DJI a meaningful opportunity to respond to concerns before the FCC imposed the listing.
The case comes amid broader US scrutiny of Chinese-made unmanned aircraft systems. Reuters reported that DJI’s filing challenges restrictions that block imports of new drone models and components, and that the policy has expanded US efforts to limit Chinese drone sales over national security concerns.
In early January 2025, the US Department of Commerce’s Office of Information and Communications Technology and Services published an advance notice of proposed rulemaking that framed “unmanned aircraft supply-chain risk” as a national security issue and discussed potential restrictions tied to foreign adversary involvement.
After the FCC’s December update, the Commission issued a follow-on action in early January 2026 that clarified how the Covered List interacts with equipment authorization and emphasized that the list does not restrict continued use of previously purchased devices. The FCC also outlined limited exemptions for certain drones through 2026, according to legal summaries of the order.
Neither the court nor the parties have outlined a timeline for the case. The dispute now moves into the appellate process, where DJI will press its argument that the FCC lacked a sufficient basis to add the company’s drones to the Covered List.
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