What a convoluted thought process. The bottom line is, customs is holding up his replacement drone - that he paid for. He paid DJI $165 for the preplacement, so it is his drone. Try to spin it anyway you want. DJI didn't initiate the hold up. The...
This is due to the anti-china and tariff thing. It could take a long time for them to get over their latest tantrum. It might old model before it's returned. We're not under the normal rules anymore, it's an authoritarian government now.
So what will change the longer they hold it? Will the drone transform itself somehow to become legal? Semantic difference: you are still separated from your property and livelihood.