As of December 23, 2025, the US Federal Communications Commission barred Chinese-based drone maker DJI from importing any new drones into the United State. That might sound like you can’t buy a DJI drone right now, but that’s not true. Head over to Amazon and just about the whole DJI drone lineup is still for sale. So what gives? Are they banned or not?
The key word in the previous paragraph was any new drone. Nothing DJI has made in the past is banned. No one is taking your drone away. It’s still perfectly legal to fly a drone. And this isn’t just a DJI ban. It’s a ban on foreign-made drones, which includes those from companies such as DJI, Autel Robotics, HoverAir, and thers. That DJI is singled out in headlines has more to do with its market dominance than the way the rules are written.
I’d like to say that with the biggest competitor essentially removed from the market that US-based companies are swooping in with new drones. Actually we did say that once about Skydio, and we even liked the Skydio drone we tested, but since then Skydio has shifted away from the consumer market.
No New Drones
Courtesy of DJI
While it’s good news that the old stuff is still for sale, it’s unlikely that any new drones will arrive.
In order to sell in the United States, anything that uses radio frequency components has to be approved by the FCC. Drones use radio frequencies when flying, so they fall under FCC jurisdiction. Because none of the drone companies have had the security review they need by an approved US agency, they have all been placed on what’s called the Covered List. Companies on the Covered List do not have approval to import products into the US, effectively banning them.
There’s some evidence that wheels are turning somewhere, in a way that could spell good news for consumer drone flyers. Last week, the FCC amended its Covered List to exempt drones and components already approved by the Defense Contract Management Agency’s Blue UAS list. The FCC says in its public statement, “The DoW has determined that UAS and UAS critical components included on Defense Contract Management Agency’s (DCMA’s) Blue UAS list do not currently present unacceptable risks to the national security of the United States or to the safety and security of US persons.”
For the most part, this doesn’t really impact consumer drones, unless you were in the market for a $13.6k Parrot Anafi USA Gov edition thermal drone, but it’s better than silence, which has been the primary thing we’ve heard leading up to the December ban.
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