By David Shepardson
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The chairman of the Federal Communications Commission said on Friday that major U.S. online retail websites have removed several million listings for banned Chinese electronics as part of an agency crackdown.
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr said in an interview that the removed items are on a U.S. list of prohibited equipment or were not authorized by the agency, including items such as home security cameras and smart watches from companies such as Huawei, Hangzhou Hikvision, ZTE and Dahua Technology Company.
Carr said companies are implementing new processes to avoid future items banned as a result of FCC oversight.
“We’re going to maintain our efforts,” Carr said.
The FCC issued a new national security notice reminding companies of prohibited items, including video surveillance equipment. Carr said the items could allow China to “surveil Americans, disrupt communications networks and otherwise threaten the national security of the United States.”
In recent years, US agencies have taken a series of actions against Chinese technology companies, including telecommunications, semiconductors, vehicles and others that raise national security concerns. This is the latest effort to prevent unapproved Chinese electronics from reaching the US market.
Earlier this week, the FCC 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 U.S. actions targeting Beijing.
The US telecom regulator previously placed companies such as Huawei, ZTE, China Mobile and China Telecom on the so-called “Covered List”, which prohibits the FCC from authorizing the import or sale of new equipment from those companies.
The agency will vote on October 28 to prohibit the authorization of devices containing components that are on the Covered List and will authorize the agency to prohibit the sale of previously authorized Covered List equipment in specific cases.
In March, the FCC said it was investigating nine Chinese companies on the Covered List, including Huawei, ZTE, as well as Hytera Communications, Dahua Technology Company, Pacifica Networks/ComNet and China Unicom (Americas).
The Chinese embassy in Washington had no immediate comment.
The FCC previously banned some Chinese companies from providing telecommunications services in the United States, citing national security concerns.
Last month, the FCC initiated proceedings to derecognize seven testing labs owned or controlled by the Chinese government, citing U.S. national security concerns.
(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Mark Porter and Diane Craft)