The US Officially Bans New Huawei and ZTE Products For National Security, TikTok Is Allegedly Next!

FCC Chair Jessica Rosenworcel, and other FCC officials. (photo: Twitter @FCCC)

JAKARTA - The United States (US) government has banned the approval of newly manufactured telecommunications equipment from Huawei Technologies and China's ZTE.

According to them, it poses an unacceptable risk to US national security. Four other China-based companies are also on the banned list.

As for surveillance equipment maker Dahua Technology, video surveillance company Hangzhou Digital Technology Hikvision and telecommunications company Communication Hytera.

The decision implements directives in the Secure Equipment Act of 2021 signed by US President Joe Biden in November last year.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) said last week it had adopted final rules, which also prohibit the sale or import of equipment made by the six companies.

Unless, they ensure the device will not be used for public safety, security of government facilities, and other national security purposes.

Existing equipment from these companies, all of which are on the FCC Covered List, is unaffected, but it is possible that existing authorizations may be revoked at a later time.

In addition, the FCC believes the named Chinese company is subject to Chinese law, and could be forced to turn over information to Beijing's security services, even though the company has denied this.

"The FCC is committed to protecting our national security by ensuring that untrusted communications equipment is not permitted to be used within our borders, and we are continuing that work here," FCC Chair Jessica Rosenworcel said in a statement. November 29th.

"These new rules are an important part of our ongoing action to protect the American people from national security threats involving telecommunications," he added.

The latest regulatory move also represents a continued US crackdown on Chinese tech giants amid fears their government could use them to spy on US people.

In 2019, an executive order from incumbent former US President Donald Trump placed Huawei on the Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security Entities list, effectively banning the company from US networks because of its close ties to the Chinese government.

The following year, the FCC ordered all US telecommunications companies to stop using equipment from Chinese manufacturers, including Huawei and ZTE and began efforts to revoke China Telecom's authorization to operate in the US.

The FCC also banned more Chinese companies earlier this year, including China Unicom and Pacific Network. In addition, the US government has signaled they may also take action against TikTok, due to potential mishandling of personal and sensitive data by China-based parent company ByteDance.