WASHINGTON, Dec 9 (Reuters) - China-based DJI and Autel

Robotics could be banned from selling new drones in the United

States market under an annual military bill set to be voted on

later this week by the U.S. House of Representatives.

The 1,800-page bill says a national security agency must

determine within one year if drones from DJI or Autel Robotics

pose unacceptable national security risks.

DJI, the world's largest drone manufacturer that sells more

than half of all U.S. commercial drones, said if no agency

completes the study, it would be automatically added to the

Federal Communications Commission's "Covered List."

DJI said that would mean the company "would be prevented

from launching new products in the U.S. market through no fault

of its own, but simply because no agency chose to take on the

work of studying our products."

DJI said Chinese drones are unfairly singled out for

scrutiny, saying it has "proactively submitted its products to

regular independent security audits and expanded the range of

built-in user privacy controls in our consumer and enterprise

drones."

Autel Robotics could not immediately be reached for comment.

Last year, a bipartisan group of 11 lawmakers asked the Biden

administration to investigate and potentially sanction Autel,

citing national security concerns.

In September, the U.S. House voted to bar new drones from

DJI from operating in the U.S. The Commerce Department is

considering whether to impose restrictions on Chinese drones

that would effectively ban them in the U.S., similar to proposed

Chinese vehicle restrictions.

In October, DJI sued the Defense Department for adding it to

a list of companies allegedly working with Beijing's military,

saying the designation is wrong and has caused the company

significant financial harm.

DJI told Reuters in October that Customs and Border

Protection is stopping imports of some DJI drones from entering

the United States, citing the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention

Act. No forced labor is involved at any stage of its

manufacturing, DJI said.

U.S. lawmakers have repeatedly raised concerns that DJI

drones pose data transmission, surveillance and national

security risks, which the company rejects.