Krishnamoorthi, Gallagher, Colleagues Request Biden Administration to Investigate PRC Drone Maker Autel
WASHINGTON, DC – Ranking Member Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL) and Chairman Mike Gallagher (R-WI) of the House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party alongside a host of bipartisan lawmakers sent a letter to the Biden Administration requesting the opening of an investigation into Autel Robotics, a People's Republic of China (PRC) drone manufacturer.
In a letter to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, the lawmakers unveil that Autel Robotics and its U.S. subsidiary, Autel Robotics USA LLC, maintain deep connections to the Chinese military, known as the People's Liberation Army (PLA). This poses a direct threat to U.S. national security as U.S. state and local governments operate Autel drones that could transmit sensitive data to the PLA. The lawmakers cite additional concerns regarding Autel's PRC state-backed subsidies, Autel's presence and technology potentially enabling the Uyghur genocide in Xinjiang, Autel drone components containing chips from blacklisted PRC companies ZTE and HiSilicon, and reports that Autel has continued its operations in Russia under a pseudonym.
Reps. Rob Wittman (R-VA), Andre Carson (D-IN), Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-MO), Mikie Sherrill (D-NJ), Dan Newhouse (R-WA), Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ), John Moolenaar (R-MI), Neal Dunn (R-FL), and Elise Stefanik (R-NY) also signed the letter.
The bipartisan coalition writes, "Autel is openly affiliated with the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) and poses a direct threat to U.S. national security as local law enforcement and state and local governments are purchasing and operating Autel drones, potentially exposing sensitive data across the country... Autel and its affiliates present themselves as a commercial-oriented business, but Chinese-language web postings reveal that the company is an active PLA supplier, as indicated by Autel job ads recruiting for a military industry sales director, while also publicly working alongside a PLA militia."
The lawmakers continue, "Recent ventures for Autel have included the issuing of new products and drones marketed as 'aircraft manufactured in the USA with foreign and domestic parts and labor.' Closer inspection reveals that Autel’s supposedly 'made in USA' drone is comprised of microchips and components from PRC technology companies ZTE and HiSilicon, the latter of which was added to the Commerce Entity List in 2019."
The lawmakers request that the cabinet secretaries investigate whether Autel Robotics meets the requirements for agency blacklists. They also request a briefing if the secretaries determine that Autel does not meet the criteria.
View the lawmakers' letter HERE or read below.
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Dear Secretary Austin, Secretary Yellen, and Secretary Raimondo,
We are writing to urge the Department of Commerce, the Department of Defense (DoD), and the Department of Treasury to investigate People’s Republic of China (PRC)-headquartered drone manufacturer Autel Robotics (深圳市道通智能航空技术股份有限公司), as well as its apparent U.S. subsidiary Autel Robotics USA LLC, for inclusion on the Commerce Entity List, the DoD Chinese Military Companies List, and the Treasury Non-SDN Chinese Military Industrial Complex Companies List (NS-CMIC List). Autel is openly affiliated with the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) and poses a direct threat to U.S. national security as local law enforcement and state and local governments are purchasing and operating Autel drones, potentially exposing sensitive data across the country. Moreover, Autel has leveraged state-backed subsidies to undercut global market prices, with founder Li Hongjing (李红京) describing government support as “indispensable oxygen” to his company’s operations.
Autel and its affiliates present themselves as a commercial-oriented business, but Chinese-language web postings reveal that the company is an active PLA supplier, as indicated by Autel job ads recruiting for a “military industry sales director,” while also publicly working alongside a PLA militia.In March 2023, Autel also touted its participation at the “National Defense Equipment and Aerospace Exhibition” in Xi’an, a defense-related convention that included displays of military and defense electronics equipment and capabilities, with the slogan of “defense technology, intelligent manufacturing and win-win.”
In recent years, Autel Robotics has gone to great lengths to muddy its history and to brand itself as a U.S. company. Its current form, Autel Robotics USA LLC, was established in 2017, and touts itself as a “family-owned business,” with the United States as the firm’s “single most important market.” However, Autel obfuscates the fact that it was previously a subsidiary of the PRC’s Autel Intelligent Technology Corp (深圳市 道通科技股份有限公司), a company listed on one of China’s National Defense and Military Industry Hybrid Securities Investment Funds (易方达国防军工混合型证券投资基 金). Recent ventures for Autel have included the issuing of new products and drones marketed as “aircraft manufactured in the USA with foreign and domestic parts and labor.” Closer inspection reveals that Autel’s supposedly “made in USA” drone is comprised of microchips and components from PRC technology companies ZTE and HiSilicon, the latter of which was added to the Commerce Entity List in 2019.
Finally, we are concerned that Autel’s technology has been leveraged by PRC public security officials to conduct surveillance operations throughout the country and that Autel maintains operations in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, the base of the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) genocidal repression against Uyghurs and other ethnic minority groups. Autel’s own website advertises nine authorized dealers across Xinjiang, including firms operating in the surveillance industry. Autel has publicly taken part in PRC police exhibitions and openly participated in the China-Asia-Europe Security Expo hosted in Xinjiang, which included exhibitions centered on security and police equipment. Beyond these actions, Autel further appears to be potentially supporting Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine. Recent reports have found that Autel drones are being marketed in Russia under the name Patriot, while the company itself continues to assert full compliance with relevant export control laws.
For these reasons, we request your agencies investigate whether Autel meets the requirements for designation to the aforementioned lists. Furthermore, if your agency determines that Autel does not meet the relevant designation criteria, we request that your agency brief the Select Committee on the justification for its determination.
The House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party has broad authority to “investigate and submit policy recommendations on the status of the Chinese Communist Party’s economic, technological, and security progress and its competition with the United States” under H. Res. 11.
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