China has captured the market for drones for American police. Washington is unhappy
92% of drones used by American police, firefighters and rescue workers are made in China, Nikkei Asia has learned.
The reason is that American-made drones are three times more expensive than their Chinese counterparts and at the same time inferior to them technologically.
The first Chinese drone used by Hardin County sheriffs in Kentucky was a DJI Matrice 300. A local agricultural cooperative donated the Chinese-made device in 2021 to help officers track down teenagers who destroyed crops on a farm involving hundreds of people. acres.
Although officers on foot were always only a few steps behind, the drone could find and take pictures of the criminals in a matter of minutes.
Sergeant Travis Cook told Nikkei Asia that drones quickly became an indispensable tool for the sheriff's department, which later built a fleet of five DJI aircraft. He said they were used to search for potentially toxic materials in a derailed train and even saved the lives of officers during a hostage situation.
The irony is that while police, firefighters and rescue workers across the country are using Chinese drones, Washington warns that the technology poses a material risk to the United States. pursue an aggressive but pragmatic policy towards China.
Washington lawmakers introduced the Counter China Drone Act in March and the Drones for First Responders (DFR) Act in May to ban DJI and increase tariffs on Chinese drones in general. Revenue from these tariffs would be used to fund the purchase of American drones for public safety departments.
The House Armed Services Committee included the Countering Chinese Drones Act in its draft of the Fiscal Year 2025 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).
The counter-drone legislation could pass quickly if "it's included in a larger bipartisan bill like the defense appropriations bill ," said Jack Zhang, an associate professor of political science at the University of Kansas, similar to how the TikTok ban was included in the foreign aid bill in April.
DJI has denied allegations that the Chinese government has backdoor access to its data or that the company is unfairly subsidized.
“The DFR Act's proposal to raise taxes and ultimately ban drones made in China is xenophobia wrapped in national security cover,” the company said in a statement.
Public safety agencies are already prohibited from using federal grants to purchase Chinese drones, but some, including those in Kentucky, New Jersey, and Connecticut, have made the purchases using their own budgets. Many say they would have purchased Chinese drones even with higher tariffs.
Luis Figueiredo, a detective with the Elizabeth Police Department in New Jersey, says the new rates will be "bad news" for users.
“DJI is not going to lower the rate, [so] the customer will pay more money for a DJI drone,” said Figueiredo, who flies five or six drones a day. “At the end of the day, who is actually funding this? It will be public safety.”
Several officers and drone sellers told Nikkei Asia that American drones cost three to four times more than Chinese models but do not offer even the same level of technology.
“Would you rather drive a Cadillac Escalade that has all the amenities and tools you need to make your job easier? Or would you rather pay more money and drive a Ford Escort that has no options at all?” said Cook, a sergeant from Kentucky. "It is what it is".
The Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI), which represents U.S. drone makers, acknowledges the technology gap but blames DJI's dominance of the U.S. market and Chinese government subsidies.
“Many drone manufacturers are finding it difficult to raise capital to scale their production [because] the demand signal from so many users remains focused on low-cost Chinese drones,” said Michael Robbins, president and CEO of AUVSI. “You have a competitor in a market that is heavily subsidized and very difficult to compete with, especially on cost factors.”
Chinese drones control 92% of the U.S. first responder market, according to AUVSI.
English version :: Read in English China has cornered the drone market for American police. Washington is unhappy.