Written by David Shepardson
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Major online retail sites in the United States have removed several million listings for banned Chinese electronic devices as part of a crackdown by the agency, the head of the Federal Communications Commission said on Friday.
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr said in an interview that the items removed were either on the US list of prohibited equipment or were not authorized by the agency, including items such as home security cameras and smart watches from companies including Huawei, Hangzhou Hikvision, ZTE and Dahua Technology. Company.
Carr said companies are putting new processes in place to block banned materials in the future as a result of FCC oversight.
“We will continue our efforts,” Carr said.
The FCC has issued a new national security notice reminding businesses of prohibited items including video surveillance equipment. These elements could allow China to “surveillance Americans, disrupt communications networks, and otherwise threaten U.S. national security,” Carr said.
In recent years, US agencies have taken a series of actions against Chinese technology companies, including telecommunications, semiconductor, automotive and other companies, raising national security concerns. This is the latest move to prevent uncertified Chinese electronics from reaching the US market.
Earlier this week, the Federal Communications Commission said it plans to vote this month to tighten restrictions on telecommunications equipment made by Chinese companies deemed national security risks, the latest in a series of US measures targeting Beijing.
The US communications regulator has previously included companies including Huawei, ZTE, China Mobile and China Telecom on its so-called “covered list”, which prevents the FCC from allowing the import or sale of new equipment from those companies.
The agency will vote on October 28 to prohibit the authorization of devices containing component parts that are on the covered list and allow the agency to prohibit the sale of previously authorized covered list equipment in specified cases.
In March, the FCC said it was investigating nine Chinese companies on the covered list, including Huawei and ZTE as well as Hytera Communications, Dahua Technology Company, Pacifica Networks/ComNet, and China Unicom (Americas).
The Chinese Embassy in Washington did not immediately comment.
The Federal Communications Commission previously banned some Chinese companies from providing telecommunications services in the United States, citing national security concerns.
Last month, the FCC began decertification proceedings from seven testing laboratories owned or controlled by the Chinese government, citing US national security concerns.
(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Mark Porter and Diane Craft)
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