By David Shepardson
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -A dozen Republican U.S. lawmakers urged the Biden administration on Friday to handle using Chinese language-manufactured agriculture drones, saying their use on American farms poses nationwide safety dangers.
The Home members, together with Representatives Elise Stefanik, Ashley Hinson and John Moolenaar, who chairs a choose committee on China, requested the Agriculture Division and Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Safety Company, in letters seen by Reuters, to element the administration’s efforts to handle dangers posed by aerosol-dispensing drones.
The lawmakers requested for a briefing by Sept. 30, citing the big variety of drones produced by Chinese language drone producer DJI as a safety concern.
DJI responded that it has no ties to the Chinese language army, saying in an emailed assertion “the unfounded accusations against our agricultural drone technology are putting U.S. farmers at risk by potentially depriving them of the tremendous benefits that DJI spray drones offer.”
The corporate stated its agricultural drone know-how “supports sustainable agriculture, allowing American farmers and business owners to integrate additional precision farming practices into their operations.”
The Chinese language Embassy in Washington stated China “firmly supports Chinese companies in carrying out international trade and cooperation in drones for civilian use, and opposes certain countries’ frequent illegal sanctions on Chinese companies and individuals on the grounds of so-called national security.”
The U.S. businesses declined to remark.
The congressional letter famous that the Commerce Division has imposed export restrictions on aerosol meting out drones which have potential for use as weapons supply platforms.
“The risk of these DJI agricultural spray drones being manipulated to carry out an attack in the United States cannot be ignored,” the letter stated. “Relying on our greatest strategic adversary for technology critical to the success of our agricultural production endangers the resiliency of our food supply.”
Stefanik known as on the Agriculture Division and the cybersecurity company to “take immediate action to mitigate the risks of Chinese-manufactured drones to our agriculture industry.” She has proposed laws looking for to bar new DJI drones from working in the USA.
DJI agriculture drones use superior sensors that may accumulate and interpret crop knowledge that’s “impossible for the human eye to see”, the lawmakers wrote, arguing that China might use the sensors “to gain access into granular level detail on the stability and condition of the U.S. agriculture sector.”
In 2020, the united statesimposed export restrictions on DJI. Lawmakers have stated DJI accounts for greater than 50% of all U.S. drone purchases.
