Lawmakers Applaud Recent FCC Ban on Imports of Telecom Equipment From China Companies
Lawmakers applauded a recently approved Federal Communications Commission order that bars the importation and sale of any new telecommunications equipment listed on the FCC’s “Covered List,” which currently includes products from Huawei, ZTE, Hytera, Hikvision and Dahua.
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Approved by unanimous FCC vote Nov. 22 and released Nov. 25, the order prohibits any new approvals -- by way of either FCC certification or a supplier's declaration of conformity (SDoC) -- of equipment on the covered list. Telecommunications devices must generally be approved in one of those two ways to be imported or sold in the U.S. The FCC also sought comments on how it should treat component parts, and to what extent it should revoke existing authorizations for telecommunications equipment on the Covered List.
“The new rules prohibit the authorization of equipment through the FCC’s Certification process, and makes clear that such equipment cannot be authorized under the Supplier’s Declaration of Conformity process or be imported or marketed under rules that allow exemption from an equipment authorization,” the FCC said in a Nov. 25 news release.
Sens. Edward Markey, D-Mass., and Marco Rubio, R-Fla., and Reps. Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., and Steve Scalise, R-La., said the order, which implements the Secure Equipment Act, will help protect U.S. telecommunications infrastructure from threats posed by Chinese equipment.
Their Nov. 28 joint news release said the order closes a loophole left by a 2020 order for telecommunications carriers to “rip and replace” some Chinese telecommunications equipment bought with federal funding. “The very same equipment could still be used if purchased with private or non-federal government dollars,” the release said. The four lawmakers “introduced the Secure Equipment Act to close this loophole and further prevent identified security threats from having a presence in U.S. telecommunications networks. The FCC’s new rule completes the rulemaking as required under the Secure Equipment Act,” it said.