National Defense Authorization Act passed without an amendment effectively banning the China-made drones, but left a door open for a prohibition in 12 months.

DJI and Autel Robotics have one year to convince skeptical national security agencies that their equipment doesn't pose a threat to the U.S.

But DJI isn’t out of the woods yet. The NDAA has started a one-year countdown, during which DJI has to prove that its products are not a national security risk to the United States. If it can’t, all of its devices will be automatically banned in the US, as will those of rival firm Autel Robotics.

About 80 percent of all drones sold in the U.S. are made by a Chinese company, DJI, that the U.S. government says has links to the Communist Party. Congress is on the verge of banning all Chinese-made drones from the U.