The Federal Communications Commission is preparing to vote in July on a rule that would ban the sale of US devices containing components from companies on its “Covered List.” That list reads like a who’s who of Chinese tech firms the US government considers national security threats: Huawei Technologies, ZTE, Dahua, Hikvision, and Hytera.
The US already bans finished equipment from these companies. But their components, like HiSilicon-designed chips made by Huawei’s semiconductor arm, can still end up inside devices that otherwise pass regulatory muster. The FCC wants to close that gap.
Current FCC rules prevent new equipment authorizations for devices manufactured by Covered List companies. But those same rules say nothing about unauthorized components from those firms showing up inside products made by other manufacturers. A smartphone maker could, in theory, use a blacklisted chipset inside a device and still receive FCC authorization. The proposed rule would end that workaround by extending the ban down the supply chain to the component level.
The Covered List itself was created under the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Act of 2019. Huawei and other companies were added on March 12, 2021. Since then, the FCC has steadily expanded both the list and the scope of its enforcement actions.
