The Biden administration has blocked approvals of new telecommunications equipment from China’s Huawei Technologies and ZTE because they pose “an unacceptable risk” to US national security.
The US Federal Communications Commission said on Friday it had approved the final rules, which also ban the sale or importation of equipment made by Chinese surveillance equipment maker Dahua Technology, video surveillance firm Hangzhou Hikvision Digital Technology and telecom firm Hytera Communications.
The move represents Washington’s latest crackdown on Chinese tech giants amid fears Beijing could use Chinese tech companies to spy on Americans.
“These new rules are an important part of our ongoing actions to protect the American people from national security threats involving telecommunications,” Federal Communications Commission Chair Jessica Rosenworcel said in a statement.
Huawei declined to comment. ZTE, Dahua, Hikvision and Hytera did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Rosenworcel circulated the proposed measure to the other three commissioners for final approval last month, which effectively bars the firms from selling new devices in the United States.
The Federal Communications Commission said in June 2021 that it was considering banning all device authorizations for all companies on the blacklist.
This followed a March 2021 designation of five Chinese companies on the so-called “covered list” as a national security threat under a 2019 law aimed at protecting US communications networks: Huawei, ZTE, Hytera Communications Corp. Hikvision and Dahua.
All four commissioners at the agency, including two Republicans and two Democrats, supported Friday’s measure.
