The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) of the United States has put forth a proposal to ban the import of telecommunications and surveillance equipment from specific Chinese companies considered national security threats. This ban extends to devices previously authorized for entry into the US market, including those from Huawei, ZTE, Hytera, Hikvision, and Dahua. The FCC is seeking public feedback on this ban extension, emphasizing the necessity to safeguard national security within the US communications sector.
The Chinese Embassy in Washington and Hikvision have not yet responded to this proposal. While existing devices can still be used, the FCC may prevent further imports once the ban is finalized to prevent a sudden rush for new devices. This move follows a series of FCC measures targeting Chinese technology, such as restrictions on new drone models and consumer routers in recent months.
In December, the FCC decided to stop approving new devices containing components from listed companies and granted the authority to ban previously approved equipment in specific cases. Hikvision contested this decision in court, alleging regulatory overreach and attempting to limit authorized equipment retroactively without adequate legal basis. Despite Hikvision’s efforts, a US appeals court upheld the FCC’s ban on approving its new surveillance and telecommunications equipment in 2022.
In a separate incident, US-based artificial intelligence company Anthropic accused three Chinese firms—DeepSeek, Minimax, and Moonshot AI—of unlawfully leveraging technology from its Claude model to enhance their own systems earlier this year.
