I’m increasingly concerned about the possibility of Bambu Lab products being banned in the US in years to come.
Why? It seems that DJI products, a company very similar to Bambu Lab but in a different industry, is set to be blocked from the US by the end of December.
What’s going on? Late last year, the US government passed the FY25 National Defense Authorization Act. This act includes a number of effects on the drone industry, where DJI is the leading provider worldwide.
One of the Act’s provisions is that a formal security assessment of the company’s products be performed by a national security agency in the US. If this audit has not been completed by December 2025, then DJI’s drone products could be blocked from sale in the US. They would, for example, be unable to receive FCC certification.
Here’s the catch: we are now five months from the deadline, and no agency has begun this audit. Government audits always take a considerable length of time, so even if one was started today, it might not finish. That is, if it is even started. It seems unlikely that the current US government would prioritize the audit.
In the meantime, you may have noticed that if you are in the US and check out the DJI online store, all of the drone products are marked “out of stock”, and have been for months. The effects of tariffs, shipping delays, extra fees for repairs, and other complications have made it near impossible for DJI to sell products in the US. Meanwhile, they are sold easily elsewhere in the world.
It seems pretty clear that the US government does not want DJI drones operating in their country.
Let’s take a look at Bambu Lab. The company was, in fact, launched by several folks that came from DJI, and they’re following the same playbook: enter a promising tech space that is full of hard-to-use, expensive products and do the opposite.
This strategy worked incredibly well for DJI, and seems to be the same for Bambu Lab. According to multiple industry reports, they are the fastest-growing 3D printer manufacturer. Their products are good enough to not only occupy the desktop category, but also good enough to begin absorbing the midrange category as well.
What is going to happen when the US government realizes that a non-trivial amount of re-shored manufacturing is being done with Chinese equipment from a company called “Bambu Lab”?
It could very well be that Bambu Lab receives the same treatment as DJI, potentially resulting in a ban.
The good news is that we haven’t heard anything of the sort yet, even though the situation is virtually the same. Should things head in that direction, it would take several years to sort out. Even in the case of DJI, it took a long time to get to this point, and it would be the same with Bambu Lab.
The impending disappearance of DJI in the US is a massive blow to the drone industry, which largely depends on DJI tech to operate. There are few US-made alternatives with the same capabilities and certainly not at the same price points. If DJI disappears, then costs will rise and functionality will drop, putting some drone operators out of business.
Does that sound familiar?
