Lawmakers Ask Commerce to Investigate Pricing Actions of Chinese Drone Maker

The Commerce Department should investigate the potentially unfair pricing activities of a Chinese drone company that was recently placed on the Entity List, two lawmakers said in an Aug. 31 letter to Secretary Gina Raimondo. Reps. Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill., and Gus Bilirakis, R-Fla., said Shenzhen DJI Sciences and Technologies Ltd., which was added to the Entity List in December (see 2012180039), may have dropped its prices for drones by as much as 70% in 2015, which allowed it to capture a significant share of the U.S. drone market. The lawmakers also said DJI should remain on the Entity List and deserves “additional scrutiny” because its drones have been used for human rights abuses in China. “We ask that DJI remain on the Department’s Entity List and that the Department investigate its pricing of consumer drones which has harmed American consumers,” the letter said. Commerce didn’t comment.