FCC Bars Chinese Labs From Testing Electronics
The US Federal Communications Commission voted on Thursday to bar all Chinese laboratories from testing electronic devices for the US market.
The decision comes weeks before President Donald Trump is due to meet Chinese leader Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Shenzhen.
The ban covers testing of devices such as smartphones, cameras and computers, and widens an earlier FCC action targeting Beijing. The FCC will also prohibit test labs and certification bodies in China and other countries that deny reciprocal treatment to US-based labs, and the prohibitions are due to take effect in December 2028. That gives domestic labs more than two years to expand capacity.
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr said that in 2025, 82% of electronics were tested in China, which has no agreement with the US, while only about 4% were tested in US labs. “These labs are a critical gateway into American communications infrastructure,” he said, adding that their access to confidential product information months before launch could allow “insecure gear into the US market, disrupt communications networks, or even steal intellectual property.” He said the move is consistent with Trump’s effort to restore “balance and fairness” in dealings with other countries, and that “we are only allowing test labs to be based in the US or in reciprocal economies.” Separately, the FCC streamlined approvals for devices tested in US labs or in labs in countries that do not pose national security risks.
In 2025 the FCC banned testing by labs owned or controlled by the Chinese government, which removed several dozen labs, but the agency said this year that most China-based labs were still testing US electronics. The agency under Carr has pursued a two-track approach, targeting specific Chinese companies while also imposing broader bans on whole product categories and tightening supply-chain restrictions. It banned imports of new models of Chinese drones in December and has also banned new models of Chinese-made consumer routers. The measures add to a crowded field of tariffs, export controls and company blacklists between the two countries.
