BIDEN ADMINISTRATION TO ISSUE NEW RULES ON FOREIGN-MADE DRONES
May 6, 2022
Recently, the Biden administration announced plans to issue new guidance on how federal agencies should handle the use of Chinese-made drones. The administration said it was developing a broader list of recommendations regarding the federal use of drones made in other countries, with a specific focus on reducing U.S. dependence on drones made in countries like China and strengthening the U.S. drone manufacturing industry. An administration official also said that it plans to separately publish terms for drone purchasing recommendations for the federal government sometime in the future. Currently, there is no coordinated approach to limiting the use of foreign-made drones as many federal agencies utilize their own solutions to try to avoid using foreign-made drones, especially those manufactured in China. This has prompted the Biden administration to seek to implement across the board recommendations as many of the restrictions currently applied by various federal agencies still allow for exceptions, such as in the case of the Interior Department, which grants waiver authority for the use of foreign-made drones in emergency situations.
We will provide any further updates on the Biden administration’s proposed rules regarding foreign-made drones as soon as we receive them.
If you have any questions, please contact Evelyn Sahr (esahr@eckertseamans.com 202-659-6622) or Drew Derco (dderco@eckertseamans.com 202-659-6665).
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