Are DJI Drones Still Banned? (2026)

until December On March 23, 2025, the US Federal Communications Commission barred Chinese-based drone manufacturer DJI from importing any new drones into the United States. It may seem like you can’t buy a DJI drone right now, but that’s not true. Head over to Amazon and almost the entire DJI drone lineup is still on sale. So what does it give? Are they banned or not?

The key word in the previous paragraph was someone New Drone. Nothing made by DJI in the past has been banned. No one is taking away your drone. Flying drones is still completely legal. and it is not Now! Ban on DJI. This is a ban on foreign-made drones, which includes drones from DJI, Autel Robotics, Hoverair and other companies. DJI’s dominance in the headlines has more to do with its market dominance than the way the rules are written.

I would say that after the biggest competitors were essentially removed from the market, US-based companies are moving forward with new drones. We actually said this about Skydio once, and we also liked the Skydio drone we tested, but Skydio has since moved away from the consumer market.

no new drone

Courtesy of DJI

While it’s good news that older stuff is still for sale, it’s unlikely that any new drones will arrive.

To be sold in the United States, anything that uses radio frequency components must be approved by the FCC. Drones use radio frequencies while flying, so they fall under the jurisdiction of the FCC. Since none of the drone companies have undergone the required security review by an approved US agency, all of them have been placed on the covered list. The companies on the covered list do not have approval to import products into the US, effectively banning them.

There’s some evidence that the wheels are turning somewhere, which could be good news for those flying consumer drones. Last week, the FCC amended its covered list to exempt drones and components previously approved by the Defense Contract Management Agency’s Blue UAS list. “DOW has determined that UAS and UAS critical components included in the Defense Contract Management Agency’s (DCMA) Blue UAS list do not currently present an unacceptable risk to the national security of the United States or the safety and security of U.S. persons,” the FCC said in its public statement.

For the most part, this doesn’t really affect consumer drones, unless you were in the market for the $13.6k Parrot Anafi USA Gov Edition thermal drone, but it’s better than silence, which has been the primary thing we’ve heard before the ban in December.