Strengthened rules of origin for entries of unmanned aircraft under heading 8806 of the HTS

(a) In general Notwithstanding any provisions of the general notes to the HTS, beginning on January 1, 2031, unmanned aircraft classified under heading 8806 of the HTS may not enter the customs territory of the United States unless— (1) the entry of the unmanned aircraft is accompanied by a certificate or other documentation required by U.S. Customs and Border Protection establishing the unmanned aircraft does not contain a flight controller, radio, data transmission device, camera, gimbal, ground control system, operating software, network connectivity hardware, or data storage manufactured in the People’s Republic of China; and (2) U.S. Customs and Border Protection confirms the veracity of the certificate or other documentation required by paragraph (1). (b) Exemption (1) In general Subsection (a) shall not apply with respect to unmanned aircraft classified under heading 8806 of the HTS that— (A) the Federal Aviation Administration has, before January 1, 2026— (i) authorized for operations under the provisions of title 14 of part 135 of the Code of Federal Regulations; or (ii) included in an air carrier’s exemption under section 44807 of title 49, United States Code; and (B) are not manufactured in whole by a covered foreign entity or in a foreign adversary country. (2) List Not later than January 1, 2026, the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration shall— (A) provide the Commissioner for U.S. Customs and Border Protection with a list of unmanned aircraft that qualify for the exemption under this subsection; and (B) certify that the list required by subparagraph (A) contains only unmanned aircraft that are not manufactured in whole by a covered foreign entity or in a foreign adversary country. (c) Definitions In this section— (1) the term air carrier has the meaning given that term in section 40102 of title 49, United States Code; and (2) the term customs territory of the United States has the meaning given that term in general note 2 of the HTS.