The U.S. Federal Communications Commission, building on a Trump-era plan, intends to suspend all transactions of incoming telecommunications products sold by certain Chinese firms, including Huawei and ZTE. This ban also includes the sale of “video surveillance equipment” from other Chinese corporations, including Hytera Communications Corporation, Hikvision, and Duhua Technology Company.
According to Axios, the FCC has never before “banned electronics equipment” because of national security concerns. The ban still requires a Commission vote, but reflects official U.S. concern about Chinese government spying through their telecommunication companies. These concerns have also been expressed elsewhere -“Trump Called It…” and “Spy Games…”- and in Peter Schweizer’s book, Red-Handed.
The Secure Equipment Act was signed into law in November 2021, placing a mandate on the FCC to decide on the safety of telecommunication products sold in the United States. While businesses can still offer goods the FCC has already “approved,” new products from firms considered a national security threat to the U.S. will be prohibited if the ban passes.
Hikvision denies the problematic nature of their products in the U.S., while ZTE and Huawei remained silent on comment requests.
Following FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr’s request, this ban will “close the so-called ‘Huawei loophole’,” present in a previous FCC ban, which prohibited companies from utilizing government money to buy products from Huawei, but still allowed purchases with private funding.
