US regulators ban sales of Huawei Technologies and ZTE equipment – BusinessLIVE
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The US has banned Huawei Technologies and ZTE from selling new electronics in America because, according to regulators, they pose a security risk.
The move continues a years-long effort to limit the reach of Chinese telecommunications companies into US networks.
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC), in an order released on Friday, also named connected-camera providers Hangzhou Hikvision Digital Technology and Dahua Technology, as well as two-way radio maker Hytera Communications Corporation.
The order includes phones, cameras and wi-fi routers
“The FCC is committed to protecting our national security by ensuring that untrustworthy communications equipment is not authorised for use within our borders, and we are continuing that work here,” chair Jessica Rosenworcel said in a news release. “These new rules are an important part of our ongoing actions to protect the American people from national security threats involving telecommunications.”
In the 4-0 vote, the FCC concluded the products pose a risk to data security. Past efforts to curb Chinese access include export controls to cut off key, sophisticated equipment and software. Recently US officials have weighed restrictions on TikTok over fears Chinese authorities could access US user data via the video sharing app.
‘Culminating action’
“This is a culminating action,” said Klon Kitchen, a senior fellow at the Washington-based American Enterprise Institute, a public policy think-tank. “Things that began under Trump are now being carried out. The Biden administration is continuing to turn the screws on these companies because the threat isn’t changing.”
In an email response, Hikvision said its video security products “present no security threat to the US and there is no technical or legal justification for the Federal Communications Commission’s decision”.
The company said the ruling will “make it more harmful and more expensive for US small businesses, local authorities, school districts, and individual consumers to protect themselves, their homes, businesses and property”.
Huawei declined to comment, while Dahua, Hytera and ZTE didn’t respond to emails sent outside normal business hours in China.
The looming FCC move didn’t come up in the bilateral meeting between US President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Indonesia last week, a US official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Biden did discuss technology issues more broadly with Xi and was clear that the US will continue to take action to protect its national security, the official said.
“This is the death knell for all of them for their US operations,” said Conor Healy, director of government research for the Bethlehem, Pennsylvania-based surveillance research group IPVM. “They won’t be able to introduce any new products into the US.”
Most exposed
Dahua and Hikvision stand to be affected most since their cameras are widely used, often by government agencies with many facilities to monitor, Healy said. Agencies including police also use hand-held Hytera radios, he said.
In its order, the FCC also asked for comment on whether to revoke existing equipment authorisation, Rosenworcel said in an online statement.
According to Healy, merchants could be stuck with equipment that’s illegal to sell.
In 2018, Congress voted to stop federal agencies from buying equipment from the five companies named by the FCC. The agency said earlier that the companies aren’t eligible to receive federal subsidies, and also has barred Chinese phone companies from doing business in the US.
Bloomberg News. More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com
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