Congress seeking to ban new sales of Chinese-made drones in the US

(23 Dec 2024)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Hickory, North Carolina - 17 December 2024
1. Various of Russell Hedrick preparing for cover crop his field
2. Wide of Russell Hedrick flying a DJI drone
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Russell Hedrick, farmer:
"I think that that's one of the, the best kept secrets right now in agriculture is drone technology. You know, just looking at the small mapping drones we use one with NDVI which we can fly over a cornfield in season and we can see, is there a problem area? Is it fertility? Is it somebody messed up with chemistry? Do we have soil biology issues where that crop is not growing as well in one area? And we can essentially take that one section out and we can scientifically test in the laboratory to see what the problem is and actually grow better food."
4. Wide of DJI drone cover cropping field

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Washington, DC - 12 December 2024
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Sen. Richard Blumenthal, (D) Connecticut:
“Chinese manufactured drones are a real and present threat to the security of this country. We have to stop using them, use American drones instead. Drones manufactured in China are sources of surveillance, data collection, other kinds of security threats, and I have warned repeatedly about the security dangers of Chinese manufacturer drone. They ought to be banned. End of story.”

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Hickory, North Carolina - 17 December 2024
6. Close of Russell Hedrick flying a DJI drone
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Russell Hedrick, farmer:
"I've got kind of mixed emotions about this security issue with the drones because, you know, we've talked to lawmakers. We work with these drones every single day. I have friends in the industry that do the same thing every single day and the lawmakers haven't given us a valid reason yet. And I'm not saying they have to divulge all the details, but if there is a true security issue, just say it. If they're going to ban it, if they're going to say that they're bad. Tell us why. Because every time that I've talked to a lawmaker, they could do this. They could do that. It's always they could."

POOL
Washington, DC - 9 September 2024
8. Overhead view of House floor
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Rep. Bob Latta, (R) Ohio:
“I rise in support of this legislation, H.R. 2864, the Countering CCP Drones Act, led by the gentlelady from New York's 21st District. DJI Technologies is the largest drone manufacturer in the world. Their drones are used by hobbyists, public safety agencies and private companies to capture images from above, protect the public and monitor critical infrastructure. Despite its significant presence, DJI is based in China and it has known ties with the Chinese Communist Party, which represents a national security risk to the United States. As we know, the companies with ties to the CCP operate in an environment tightly intertwined with the communist Chinese government, raising serious concerns about the level of influence and potential for exploitation by the CCP.”

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Hickory, North Carolina - 17 December 2024
10. Wide of DJI drone cover cropping field
11. SOUNDBITE (English) Russell Hedrick, farmer:
12. Wide of DJI drone landing in front Russell Hedrick
13. Close of DJI drone controller
STORYLINE:
The economic and technological rivalry between the U.S. and China has come to the drone market, with Chinese-made flying devices a dominant player in America.

Lawmakers in Washington are now seeking to ban new sales of drones from two dominant Chinese manufacturers.




Those restrictions were included in a bill that President Joe Biden signed last year.





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