Lawmakers struggle in bid to rein in dominant Chinese drone maker DJI

​The depths of China’s penetration of critical high-tech industries — and the difficulties the U.S. faces in loosening Beijing’s grip — were on vivid display on Capitol Hill this month as lawmakers wrestled with how to combat China’s dominance of the global drone market.
Senate Armed Services Committee drafters quietly dropped a provision from the massive national defense authorization bill — considered one of the very few must-pass bills lawmakers will take up this year — that effectively banned Chinese-made commercial drones from entering the U.S. market, in the face of strong lobbying by American farm groups and others who say an immediate prohibition would be disastrous for their operations.

The House version of the 2025 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), approved la …