Trump’s 100% tariff on drones will be disaster for the US, critics warn
Trump’s 100% tariff on drones will be disaster for the US, critics warn
批评人士警告：特朗普对无人机征收100%关税将给美国带来灾难
On Thursday, the Trump administration imposed a 100 percent tariff on foreign-made drones, alarming critics who warn that high tariffs would harm public safety and devastate thousands of US businesses. 周四，特朗普政府对外国制造的无人机征收了100%的关税，这引起了批评人士的警觉。他们警告称，高额关税将损害公共安全，并对数以千计的美国企业造成毁灭性打击。
Guidance posted by US Customs and Border Protection says that starting Thursday, a 100 percent tariff will apply to imported drones that use thermal imaging or weigh more than 55 pounds. Additionally, a 25 percent tariff has been placed on smaller drones, and drones from US allies were hit with smaller but not inconsequential tariffs. There’s now a 10 percent levy on British-made drones and 15 percent levies on drones from the European Union, Japan, Liechtenstein, South Korea, Switzerland, and Taiwan. “Nonsensitive” drones without thermal imaging and their components will carry a 25 percent tariff, starting on February 9, 2027. 美国海关和边境保护局发布的指导意见显示，从周四开始，使用热成像技术或重量超过55磅的进口无人机将被征收100%的关税。此外，小型无人机被征收25%的关税，来自美国盟友的无人机也被征收了较小但不可忽视的关税。目前，英国制造的无人机需缴纳10%的税款，来自欧盟、日本、列支敦士登、韩国、瑞士和台湾的无人机则需缴纳15%的税款。不具备热成像功能的“非敏感”无人机及其零部件将于2027年2月9日起被征收25%的关税。
While announcing the tariffs, President Donald Trump said that taxing foreign-made drones will strengthen US national security by decreasing reliance on Chinese drones and increasing reliance on domestic drones. But critics say Trump’s tactics seem short-sighted, citing estimates that “a single Chinese company—Shenzhen-based DJI—manufactures more than 70 percent of the world’s commercial drones,” The New York Times reported. 在宣布这些关税时，唐纳德·特朗普总统表示，对外国制造的无人机征税将通过减少对中国无人机的依赖并增加对国产无人机的依赖，从而加强美国的国家安全。但据《纽约时报》报道，批评人士称特朗普的策略显得目光短浅，并引用估算数据指出：“仅一家中国公司——总部位于深圳的大疆创新（DJI）——就制造了全球70%以上的商用无人机。”
They fear that Trump’s tariffs will do “more harm than good,” the Times reported, since these drones are considered “essential” for US law enforcement and public safety officials. Thermal drones are regularly used to find missing people, track spreading wildfires, support police and rescue operations in environments with unknown risks, and serve a range of other routine public safety uses. A chief of a large unit comprising police officers and firefighters in the Cleveland area, Scott Mlakar, told the Times that Trump’s tariffs would spike drone costs so much that they would likely “put thermal drones out of reach for communities that needed them the most.” 据《纽约时报》报道，他们担心特朗普的关税将“弊大于利”，因为这些无人机被认为是美国执法部门和公共安全官员的“必需品”。热成像无人机经常被用于寻找失踪人员、追踪蔓延的野火、在未知风险的环境中支持警察和救援行动，以及执行其他一系列常规公共安全任务。克利夫兰地区一个由警察和消防员组成的大型部门负责人斯科特·姆拉卡（Scott Mlakar）告诉《纽约时报》，特朗普的关税将导致无人机成本飙升，以至于很可能“让最需要热成像无人机的社区买不起它们”。
FCC may effectively ban more drones
美国联邦通信委员会（FCC）可能变相禁止更多无人机
Beyond the immediate increase in the cost of drones, even more drones could soon be restricted in the US. The Federal Communications Commission is considering whether to reclassify a range of common drone technologies as “military grade,” a move that many commenters warned would further restrict access to countless drones that serve no military purpose and pose no threat to national security. 除了无人机成本的直接增加外，美国可能很快还会限制更多无人机。美国联邦通信委员会（FCC）正在考虑是否将一系列常见的无人机技术重新归类为“军用级”。许多评论人士警告称，此举将进一步限制人们使用无数既无军事用途也不对国家安全构成威胁的无人机。
Industry experts have warned that the reclassification would amount to a “retroactive ban on drones used by thousands of American businesses and public safety officials,” the Times reported. If passed, it would be an “industry-killing ban,” an aerial photographer, Vic Moss, told the Times. 据《纽约时报》报道，行业专家警告称，这种重新分类相当于对“数以千计的美国企业和公共安全官员使用的无人机进行追溯性禁令”。航空摄影师维克·莫斯（Vic Moss）告诉《纽约时报》，如果该提案获得通过，这将是一项“扼杀行业的禁令”。
And one official coordinating a city’s drone program, David Hood, urgently alerted the FCC in a comment that the plan to recategorize any drone with Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) sensors as military-grade would be particularly disastrous for society. “LiDAR is a safety and navigation technology, not a military capability,” Hood wrote. His city relies on LiDAR-equipped aircraft to help avoid crashes. That “civilian use—collision avoidance—is a safety function, not a combat function,” Hood wrote. 一位负责协调某城市无人机项目的官员大卫·胡德（David Hood）在评论中紧急提醒FCC，将任何配备激光雷达（LiDAR）传感器的无人机重新归类为军用级的计划对社会来说将是灾难性的。“激光雷达是一种安全和导航技术，而不是军事能力，”胡德写道。他所在的城市依靠配备激光雷达的飞行器来帮助避免碰撞。胡德写道，这种“民用——防碰撞——是一种安全功能，而非作战功能。”
He recommended that the FCC either remove LiDAR-equipped drones from the list of potential new categories of military-grade technologies or, at a minimum, narrow the “category so that it reaches only equipment genuinely tied to the identified national-security risk.” “Prohibiting LiDAR would undermine the very safety the proposal seeks to protect,” Hood wrote. “Removing access to these platforms would push operators—including public agencies conducting inspections and public-safety missions over populated areas—toward less capable aircraft with inferior collision avoidance, increasing the risk of crashes over people and property.” 他建议FCC要么将配备激光雷达的无人机从潜在的军用级技术新类别清单中删除，要么至少缩小“类别范围，使其仅涵盖真正与已确定的国家安全风险相关的设备”。胡德写道：“禁止激光雷达将破坏该提案旨在保护的安全。取消对这些平台的使用权，将迫使操作员——包括在人口稠密地区进行检查和公共安全任务的公共机构——转向防碰撞能力较差的低性能飞行器，从而增加在人员和财产上空发生坠机的风险。”
Dale Hylton of Blue Skies Drones suggested in a comment that the FCC “should evaluate the actual risk presented by a system, not classify equipment as military grade simply because it contains a sensor that is widely used in civilian transportation, robotics, surveying, construction, and industrial applications.” Blue Skies Drones公司的戴尔·希尔顿（Dale Hylton）在评论中建议，FCC“应该评估系统带来的实际风险，而不是仅仅因为设备包含在民用交通、机器人、测绘、建筑和工业应用中广泛使用的传感器，就将其归类为军用级。”
DJI drones irreplaceable, officials say
官员称大疆无人机不可替代
Cops in red states like Texas and blue states like New York agree that cutting off Chinese drones will impact public safety. Jason Lee, a Texas police officer, told the FCC that “there is currently no economically viable domestic replacement” for DJI drones. That’s why, he said, “more than 80 percent of state and local law-enforcement drone programs surveyed in 2024 used DJI aircraft.” 无论是像德克萨斯州这样的红州，还是像纽约州这样的蓝州，警察们都认为切断中国无人机的供应将影响公共安全。德克萨斯州的一名警官杰森·李（Jason Lee）告诉FCC，目前大疆无人机“没有经济上可行的国产替代品”。这就是为什么他说：“2024年接受调查的州和地方执法部门无人机项目中，超过80%都在使用大疆飞行器。”
“This widespread adoption did not occur because law-enforcement agencies are seeking military equipment,” Lee said. “It occurred because these systems provide dependable capabilities at a price that municipal agencies can actually afford.” As the manager of his police department’s drone program, Lee explained that he relies “heavily on DJI platforms because they provide a combination of reliability, capability, ease of use, and cost that is difficult, if not impossible, to replicate with currently available domestic alternatives.” “这种广泛采用并不是因为执法机构在寻求军事装备，”李说。“这是因为这些系统以市政机构真正负担得起的价格提供了可靠的功能。”作为其警察局无人机项目的经理，李解释说，他“非常依赖大疆平台，因为它们结合了可靠性、功能性、易用性和成本，而目前的国产替代品很难、甚至不可能复制这些优势。”
He’s also concerned that tariffs will make it harder to affordably fix minor repairs on drones that public safety officials have already purchased. Right now, he said, US-made drones can’t fill that gap. “The fact that a domestic product exists does not necessarily mean it is a viable substitute,” Lee said. “A replacement must be operationally comparable, economically obtainable, supported by an adequate supply chain, and accepted by pilots who must rely on it during real-world incidents.” 他还担心关税会使公共安全官员已经购买的无人机在进行小修时变得更加昂贵。他说，目前美国制造的无人机无法填补这一空白。“国产产品的存在并不一定意味着它是可行的替代品，”李说。“替代品必须在操作上具有可比性、经济上可获得、有充足的供应链支持，并被必须在现实事件中依赖它的飞行员所接受。”
Both Lee and Hood noted that the impact extends beyond public safety, affecting hobbyists, professional photographers, farmers, construction workers, and many others who rely on affordable access to capable drones. The American Gas Association, which represents energy groups servin… 李和胡德都指出，这种影响超出了公共安全的范畴，还波及了业余爱好者、专业摄影师、农民、建筑工人和许多其他依赖廉价且高性能无人机的人群。代表能源团体的美国天然气协会（American Gas Association）……