And open letter to President Trump.

Dear President Trump,

I’d like to take a moment and explain what the tariffs are doing to the U.S. drone industry. In a nutshell, it’s one more nail in the coffin for us. That’s obviously a bit of an overstatement, but it’s not far off with all of the roadblocks thrown up in front of our industry lately. The tariffs are just the latest.

We as an industry are facing the possibility of a crisis as it becomes harder and harder to get the equipment we need to run our businesses and enjoy our hobby. Whether we fly drones for a living, for fun, or are a retailer who supplies those very drones to recreational and commercial clients, we are finding it more and more difficult to obtain our much needed equipment. And they are costing more and more on what seems like a weekly basis.

Our issues started when DJI was accused of spying. Even with the evidence supplied by audit after audit proving otherwise, Congress has tried multiple times to impose industry killing legislation. Even when legislators are told again and again, that nothing exists that is comparable to the equipment we use. While there are certain enterprise level U.S. made drones that can partially compete with our Chinese gear, there is nothing (and I mean nothing!) That can replace the equipment that 90% of all drone pilots fly every day. No one makes anything at all, regardless of cost of country of origin.

So any ban would kill this industry.

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And since 95% of all First Responder drone teams use Chinese drones, also with nothing comparable being offered by manufactures not based in China, if these bans do ever go through, it will literally cost American lives. Because these bills would take the most reliable, affordable, and readily available tools out of the hands of rescue teams looking for lost children. Additionally, First Responders will no longer have the best tool to find safe ways to fight a fire, or the right tool to clear a house of armed suspects or use for overwatch of a tense S.W.A.T. hostage situation. In those cases, the very lives of First Responders will be put at risk. All because of an unfounded and inaccurate accusation of China using our drones to gather sensitive information. The very information that millions of iPhone and Galaxy phones gather every day. And we won’t even bring up satellites and spy balloons.

Now we have Congresswoman Elise Stefanik (allegedly) calling for, and getting, more CBP Customs Agents on the border to stop DJI shipments. Again, based on unproven accusations. This time she and Congressman Moolenaar are claiming DJI uses forced labor from the Uyghur region of China. They don’t, and have provided CBP will all the documents they ask for. Yet Stefanik’s underhanded tactics remain.

That’s just a quick history lesson of what we have faced of the last couple of years. It’s setting the stage for the third front on the war against our industry. And that is the recently imposed tariffs on all products coming out of China. And this is what may be the final nail in our coffin if those tariffs aren’t removed very soon.

And you have precedent here.

Earlier this month you and your administration lifted those tariffs on Chinese smartphones, computers, and other electronic items . We as an industry were very optimistic when we heard that announced. But that was a very short lived bout of optimism as news reports showed drones were not include in the list of electronics.

I’m asking, pleading really, for you to do the same thing for Chinese drones.

I’m not going to discuss the benefits or drawbacks of tariffs. There are plenty arguing about the success and failures of those already. And the economics behind these tariffs are way above my pay grade. Instead, I want to let you know what the current reality is, and what the eventual reality will be if the drone tariffs continue to remain in place.

I think I understand what you’re trying to do with tariffs, and under the right set of circumstances, those tariffs may even be successful. In early April you’re quote as saying, “Jobs and factories will come roaring back into our country. And ultimately, more production at home will mean stronger competition and lower prices for consumers.”  And you say, “tariffs will encourage U.S. consumers to buy more American-made goods.”

At some level, I don’t necessarily disagree with your statement. But blanket statements like those will obviously have exceptions. And our drones are one of the major exceptions to a factory “roaring back into our country“.

History has shown us that the United States has been off-shoring R&D and manufacturing, starting as early as the mid-1970s. As a result, we have neither the capability nor the raw materials to produce drones in this country. At least not at the scale we would need to replace our fleets as they age.

As far as encouraging U.S consumers to “buy more American-made goods”, as I mentioned above, when it comes to prosumer drones, those flat out don’t exist. Period! And there are no plans to make them. No U.S drone manufacturer, or even an allied nation drone manufacturer, makes those drones, and as far as anyone in the industry knows, have no plans to make them. Some (Skydio and BRINC) have even said so. And even the American-made enterprise drones that are “comparable” to the Chinese made ones are more expensive (2-10 times as much), less reliable, and basically unavailable unless you can wait weeks or even months for your order to be filled.

Our First Responder agencies cannot afford to have sub-par equipment in the hands of their people who are tasked with saving lives. And that’s assuming those agencies can afford those drones at all. Many are on record as saying their agencies will close if they are not allowed use the best tools of the work (Chinese drones).

U.S. and ally made drones cannot compete with Chinese drone manufacturers. Just like smartphone, computer, and other electronics manufacturers from China. Our country, and her allies, are incapable of competing in any of those industries. And it’s our own fault.

Suppose a U.S. manufacturer decides to make a comparable replacement to the DJI Mavic 3 Pro or Air 3s? Or the Autel EVO series? Even something as small as the DJI Mini 4 Pro? How long will it take to design, get FCC and patent approval, tool up manufacturing, and scale up production to the levels we need to replace the 100s of 1000s, if not millions, or drones needed right now? Much less 2-3 years in the future when our current fleets are no longer safe to fly.

And suppose the U.S. Government can fast track what they are capable of fast tracking (are they even capable?)? That still doesn’t address this country’s glaring lack of raw resources to make such things as computer chips that run our drones, and obtaining the lithium that powers our batteries. 

Yes, we as a country are building more chips factories. But my industry has no grand illusions that drones are anywhere near the top of the list of industries that will be clamoring for those chips as our factories come online.

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And batteries are a massive issue!

Lithium is the main component of our batteries. And even though the U.S has two of the largest lithium reserves in the world (Smackover formation in LA, MS, & TX, and in the reserve on the OR/NV border), how long before we can tap those reserves at scale? How long with it take to get the EPA, and state and local permits to start mining? How long will it take those mining companies to come online once they have permits? And how many times will those processes be delayed by environmental extremists filing nuisance lawsuit after nuisance lawsuit?

No, spooling up a sustainable lithium source in this country, in anything less that 10 years, is a pipe dream. And my industry, the Drone Service Provider Industry (commercial or First Responder) will not survive a wait that long.

I ask you Mr. President, no I beg you, please remove the drones tariffs that are slowly but surely decimating my industry. 100s of 1000s of small businesses, 1000s of First Responder agencies, and an unknown number of American lives truly depend on your swift action.

You’ve done it for other industries, please do so for ours.

Tariffs cannot “encourage U.S. consumers to buy more American-made [drones}”, because they do not exist, and they won’t. For many, many years. 

We are fighting for the survival of our businesses, our agencies, and the very lives of the people those agencies have been tasked with protecting.

You are a businessman first and foremost Mr. President. You understand what it takes to run a successful business, and you can commiserate with what this entire industry is currently going through. If we can’t get the right tools we need to run our businesses and agencies, we have to close our doors.

And you can easily fix this.

Please do!