FCC Votes to Strip All Chinese Labs of Electronics Certification Authority

The Federal Communications Commission voted unanimously on Thursday to advance a proposal that would strip every testing lab in China and Hong Kong of its ability to certify electronics for sale in the U.S. The agency estimates that roughly 75% of all U.S.-bound electronics are currently tested in Chinese facilities, a level it now considers a national security risk. FCC Chair Brendan Carr said the commission is pursuing actions to limit the interconnection capabilities of entities it considers security threats. Every device that emits radio frequencies requires FCC equipment According to compliance data compiled The shift will not be seamless. Basic FCC certification testing runs between $400 and $1,300 at Chinese labs, compared with $3,000 to $4,000 at U.S. equivalents. The FCC already banned 15 state-owned or government-affiliated Chinese labs between September and February under its original "Bad Labs" order. Thursday's vote extends that prohibition to all remaining labs in China, regardless of ownership. In a separate 3-0 vote, the commission also advanced a proposal to ban China Mobile, China Telecom, and China Unicom from operating data centers in the U.S. The FCC had previously revoked those companies' retail telecom licenses but had not addressed their remaining wholesale and infrastructure operations. The new proposal would also consider banning U.S. carriers from interconnecting with any company on the FCC's national security "Covered List" or any carrier using equipment from Huawei or ZTE. Thursday's vote opens a public comment period expected to last 60 to 90 days, followed