Top lawmakers on China panel press US, drone company CEO on DJI threat

The top lawmakers on the House China select committee sent letters this month to the Commerce Department and the head of a newly formed American business that has alleged ties to Chinese drone maker Da Jiang Innovations (DJI).

The letters show Congress is narrowing its scrutiny of Chinese drones in the U.S. amid concerns about a threat to national security and is seeking to potentially crack down further on companies affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party. The lawmakers also cite two companies allegedly affiliated with DJI that The Hill reported on in June.

The letter to Randall Warnas, CEO of U.S.-based Anzu Robotics, which licenses technology from DJI for sale in American markets, expresses concern about the connection between the two companies.

Reps. John Moolenaar (R-Mich.), chair of the House China select committee, and Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.), the panel’s ranking member, said Anzu’s Raptor T model “is essentially” a DJI Mavic 3, raising concerns about identical hardware and firmware that is vulnerable to Chinese supply chains.

“Based in part on your own statements, it appears that DJI is using Anzu as a passthrough
company in an attempt to avoid current and anticipated U.S. restrictions on DJI products,” the lawmakers wrote in the letter dated Aug. 20.

The lawmakers added this posed a national security risk, as DJI is on the Commerce Department’s blacklist and the Chinese company maintains close ties to Beijing and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). They pressed Warnas to divulge more details about his relationship with DJI.

Warnas told The Hill in a statement that Anzu looks “forward to working collaboratively with the Committee to address their concerns.”

“We believe there are fundamental misunderstandings about how Anzu Robotics operates and complies with the law,” he said.

The Hill has reached out to Warnas for comment. In the June article, Warnas said his relationship with DJI was hands off and a proper relationship to meet the changing “tide” of the moment.

The Hill reported in the June article about Anzu Robotics and another company, Hong Kong-based Cogito Tech Company Limited, which is selling what appears to be DJI clones on Amazon. The Hill was the first major media outlet to report about Cogito Tech.

In a separate letter this month, lawmakers also pressed Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo on Anzu Robotics and Cogito Tech, sharing evidence with the department that products from both companies are DJI drones.

“DJI appears to be using these companies as part of a concerted effort to thwart current and prospective restrictions on its operations imposed by the United States,” they wrote, asking for the Commerce Department to answer questions about what steps it is taking to investigate the issue and stop the alleged white labeling.

DJI controls about 80 percent of the global drone market share, making widely popular drones for commercial and enterprise use that are not rivaled by any other major drone companies.

But Capitol Hill is moving toward further restricting the drones, part of an expanding concern in Washington that Chinese companies pose a major national security risk. Earlier this year, President Biden signed into law a measure that would ban the social media app TikTok unless the Chinese parent company ByteDance divests.

The Countering CCP Drones Act, a bill that would further restrict DJI by adding its technology and equipment to a covered list on U.S. communications infrastructure, was added to the House version of the annual National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). The NDAA must be reconciled with the Senate before it is passed, likely at the end of the year.

The U.S. also has 25 percent tariffs on Chinese drones, and several states have already completely banned drones from companies like DJI and Autel, another Chinese drone company that the Commerce Department added to its blacklist in July.

Companies affiliated with DJI could also be subject to the Countering CCP Drones Act if the Federal Communications Commission identifies them as an affiliate.

Updated at 5:02 pm.