The Biden administration said on Thursday that it was considering a new rule that could restrict or ban Chinese drones in the United States out of national security concerns.
In a notice, the Commerce Department said the involvement of foreign adversaries — notably China and Russia — in the design, development, manufacture and supply of drones could pose “undue or unacceptable risk to U.S. national security.”
The notice requested private companies to comment on the scope and implications of the rule by March 4. The decision of what restrictions to impose, if any, on Chinese and Russian drones will fall to the Trump administration.
China and Russia have shown a willingness to compromise U.S. infrastructure and security through cyberespionage, the Commerce Department said, adding that the governments could leverage their laws and political situations to “co-opt private entities for national interests.”
Beyond the use of drones by hobbyists, the devices are employed in a variety of U.S. industries. They help farmers monitor crops and spray for pests, inspect pipelines for the chemical industry, survey bridges and construction sites, and aid firefighters and other emergency responders.
But drones have evolved over the past decade to include sophisticated cameras, receivers and artificial intelligence abilities, fueling concerns that they could be turned into a useful tool for an adversarial government.
Companies based in China account for at least 75 percent of the U.S. drone market, a dominance that “provides ample exploitation opportunities,” the Commerce Department said. It added that Russia accounted for a relatively small portion of global drone sales but had announced its intention to invest heavily in developing the domestic market.
Commerce Secretary Gina M. Raimondo said in a statement that the proposed rule would be “an essential step in protecting the United States from vulnerabilities posed by foreign entities.”
She added that securing the unmanned aircraft systems technology supply chain was “critical to safeguarding our national security.”
In its notice, the Commerce Department said that drones could be used to damage physical infrastructure in a collision, deliver an explosive payload or gather information about critical infrastructure, including building layouts.
In addition, with critical infrastructure in the United States increasingly reliant on drones, any efforts to remotely incapacitate them would create a risk to national security. The department added that in the past, drone companies based in China had pushed updates to their devices to create no-fly restrictions that disabled them in conflict zones defined by the companies.
The notice said that the Commerce Department was also considering whether any measures could mitigate the risks and allow the sale of Chinese drones to continue, such as certain design requirements or cybersecurity software.
The proposed rule is part of a broader effort by the Biden administration to examine and eliminate vulnerabilities in high-tech products and communications infrastructure that collect huge amounts of data about Americans.
In September, the administration moved to ban Chinese-developed software from internet-connected cars in the United States. The initiative was aimed at preventing Chinese intelligence agencies from monitoring the movements of Americans or using the vehicles’ electronics as a pathway into the U.S. electric grid or other infrastructure.
Lawmakers have repeatedly raised concerns about national security risks from drones, including ones from DJI, a leading drone maker based in China. A defense bill that President Biden signed last month contained a provision ordering the government to determine whether drones from DJI or Autel Robotics, another Chinese company, posed a threat.
The restrictions come amid growing concerns about U.S. vulnerabilities to cyberattacks. The Treasury Department announced on Monday that it had been hacked by a Chinese intelligence agency.
In recent months, a series of revelations have shown how a sophisticated Chinese intelligence group, called Salt Typhoon, penetrated deep into at least nine U.S. telecommunications firms, targeting phone lines used by President-elect Donald J. Trump and others.
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