The United States expands ban on Chinese surveillance cameras and networking equipment
An FCC decision prohibits Dahua, Hikvision, and other Chinese manufacturers from selling new equipment.
The Federal Communications Commission voted 4–0 to ban the sale of new telecommunications and surveillance equipment produced by several Chinese companies, arguing that their ownership and activities pose a threat to U.S. national security.
The rule change affects 10 companies already subject to other restrictions and prohibits them from selling or importing new products.
Among them are surveillance camera manufacturers:
- Hangzhou Hikvision Digital Technology Co.
- Hytera Communications Corp.
- Zhejiang Dahua Technology Co.
And telecommunications equipment manufacturers:
- Huawei Technologies Co.
- ZTE Corp.
The FCC released its order on Friday. The latest order does not require U.S. buyers to remove equipment they previously purchased or revoke authorizations for existing electronic models.
A Hikvision spokesperson said the FCC decision would not protect U.S. national security, but would instead make it more harmful and expensive for small businesses, local governments, school districts, and individual consumers.
Huawei declined to comment. Representatives of Hytera, Dahua, and ZTE could not be reached for comment. Technology companies have been protesting the proposed ban for months in regulatory filings.
The move by the FCC is the latest in a series of U.S. efforts to restrict China’s technology sector and may cast doubt on the tentative rapprochement reached earlier this month between President Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping. The two leaders agreed to try to halt the downward spiral in U.S.–China relations, resume high-level contacts, and find areas of cooperation such as climate change.
Following the Biden–Xi meeting, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen held talks with China’s central bank governor, and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin also met with his Chinese counterpart.
However, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said responsibility for improving relations lies with the United States, which, he said, should respect China’s interests. Among the contentious issues is the Biden administration’s October decision to ban exports to China of advanced semiconductors and related tools, aimed at limiting China’s technological and military development.
ZTE and especially Huawei have previously been hit by U.S. export controls and have faced pressure campaigns from Washington urging other countries to limit business with Chinese telecom equipment makers. Surveillance equipment manufacturers have also recently become targets of both the Biden and Trump administrations and U.S. regulators.
Russian security software producer Kaspersky Lab is also included on the list of technology companies subject to sanctions.
Earlier this month, Hikvision said in a filing to the FCC that the ban would be an “unprecedented, unjustified, and unlawful operation to prohibit authorization of end-user surveillance equipment that may never be connected to public telecommunications or broadband networks.”
Over the past decade, Chinese companies have achieved limited success in U.S. cable and mobile networks, but their position in the commercial surveillance market is much stronger. According to market researcher Omdia, Hikvision is the world’s largest seller of professional security equipment by revenue and ranks fifth in the United States.
The bipartisan FCC decision adds to a growing list of U.S. regulations aimed at cutting off Chinese technology companies from access to American infrastructure considered vulnerable to espionage. In 2019, the FCC blocked companies receiving federal telecom subsidies from buying Huawei or ZTE equipment. That restriction hurt Huawei’s early sales to rural cable and wireless providers but did not result in a full ban.
Later, the FCC launched a process to identify foreign technology companies that “pose an unacceptable risk to the national security of the United States or the safety of U.S. persons.” In 2021, the agency said it was considering whether it could use its radio signal authority to restrict licenses for affected companies to sell wireless devices.
Based on materials from The Wall Street Journal