On Thursday, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) of the United States passed a regulation with a 4-0 vote, officially prohibiting Chinese labs identified as posing a risk to U.S. national security from testing electronic devices such as smartphones, cameras, and computers intended for the U.S. market.
All electronic products sold in the U.S. must undergo the FCC’s equipment certification process before import. The FCC stated that currently, about 75% of electronic devices are tested in labs within China. However, prior to the introduction of these new regulations, the qualification standards of the agency were primarily based on technical capabilities rather than credibility.
According to a Reuters report, FCC Chairman Brendan Carr stated on Thursday, “These labs are essentially gateways into U.S. telecommunications infrastructure. If they are subject to influence by foreign hostile forces, it is easy to imagine the possibility of passing devices with security vulnerabilities into the U.S. market.”
As early as November 2022, the FCC had already banned the approval of telecom and surveillance equipment from Chinese companies such as Huawei, ZTE, Hytera, Hangzhou Hikvision, and Zhejiang Dahua from entering the U.S. market on the grounds that these devices posed unacceptable risks to U.S. national security.
Under the latest regulations, Chinese labs controlled or commanded by companies on the FCC’s “Covered List” are not allowed to conduct product testing. If the FCC determines that a lab is affiliated with a restricted entity, it will revoke its certification.
The new regulations, in addition to the FCC’s “Covered List,” will also consider other security assessment results of the U.S. government, including the Department of Defense’s published “List of Chinese Military Companies” and the Department of Commerce’s “Entity List.”
The FCC is also soliciting opinions on whether the ban should be expanded to all labs located in China and other “hostile countries.”
Furthermore, on Thursday, the FCC also voted to advance another proposal requiring entities with significant ties to the Chinese Communist Party or other foreign adversaries to fully disclose their FCC licenses and certifications.
In March of this year, the FCC announced an investigation into nine Chinese companies suspected of attempting to circumvent U.S. restrictions, including Huawei, Hikvision, China Mobile, and China Telecom.