Joe Biden signs law blocking Chinese telecoms firms like Huawei, ZTE from new equipment licences

The new law prevents the FCC from granting or reviewing applications for licences from companies the agency determines are a security threat to the US

The signing comes days before a virtual summit between the US president and Chinese leader Xi Jinping

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Under proposed rules that won initial approval in June, the US FCC can also revoke prior equipment authorisations issued to Chinese companies like Huawei. Photo illustration: Reuters

Published: 5:04am, 12 Nov 2021Updated: 7:15am, 12 Nov 2021

US President Joe Biden signed a law on Thursday to block Chinese telecommunications companies like Huawei and ZTE from obtaining new equipment licences from US regulators, the latest move from Washington to crack down on China’s tech giants over national security concerns.

The new law, called the Secure Equipment Act, prevents the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) from granting or reviewing applications for licences from companies that the agency determines are a security threat to the US.

Brendan Carr, the FCC’s senior Republican commissioner, said last month that the bill would “close a glaring loophole that Huawei and others are exploiting today to place their insecure gear into our networks”.

In March, the FCC, which manages access to airwaves in the US, listed Huawei, ZTE and multiple other Chinese technology companies as firms that pose “an unacceptable risk” to US national security.

Attendees use tablets in front of signage for ZTE at the MWC Shanghai exhibition in February. Photo: Bloomberg

The list was mandated by Congress under a 2019 law, but it did not stop the FCC from continuing to grant licences to the companies on the list.