The Biden administration has banned the approval of new telecoms equipment from China’s Huawei Technologies and ZTE because they pose an “unacceptable risk” to US national security.
The U.S. Federal Communications Commission announced on Friday that it has passed final rules that also ban the sale or import of equipment from Chinese surveillance equipment maker Dahua Technology, video surveillance company Hangzhou Hikvision Digital Technology and telecom company Hytera Communications.
The move represents Washington’s latest crackdown on the 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 efforts to protect the American people from national security threats related to telecommunications,” FCC Chairwoman 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, which would effectively bar the companies from selling new equipment in the United States, to the other three commissioners last month for final approval.
The FCC said in June 2021 it was considering banning all device approvals for all companies on the covered list.
This comes after five Chinese companies on the so-called “covered list” were identified as a national security threat under a 2019 law protecting US communications networks in March 2021: Huawei, ZTE, Hytera Communications Corp Hikvision and Dahua.
All four of the agency’s commissioners, including two Republicans and two Democrats, backed Friday’s move.