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| Biden Signs Tougher Law of Restrictions on Huawei and ZTE |
US President Joe Biden has signed into law the Security Equipment Act, which bars companies such as Huawei and ZTE from obtaining network licenses.
Reuters reports that the new regulations mean the FCC can no longer consider requests for network hardware that could pose a threat to national security.
As a result of this process, the FCC will no longer be able to issue or review licenses for companies on the list of equipment or services covered by the FCC.
The bill is the latest move by the US government to take action against Chinese telecoms and technology companies. The House of Representatives voted 4,204 votes. The Senate passed it unanimously last month.
"We have determined that this device poses an unacceptable risk to our national security," said FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr. Therefore, it is a suitable step for us to plug the Huawei loophole you mentioned.
The US Federal Communications Commission officially designated Huawei and ZTE as national security threats last year. The investigation found that these two companies are closely linked to the Chinese Communist Party.
However, as long as there is no federal funding, the company can apply for a license. To this end, Karl urged lawmakers to pass the Safety Equipment Act.
The new law requires the FCC not to review or approve license applications for devices that pose an unacceptable national security risk.
Karl said that the commission has approved more than 3,000 applications for Huawei since 2018. He added: The law will help prevent dangerous devices from companies like Huawei and ZTE from entering US telecom networks.
Biden signs the Safety Equipment Act
In March of this year, Carl said, "Unless federal funding is included, there is no point in authorizing the purchase of equipment that poses an unacceptable risk to national security and the nation." Having these dangerous devices on our network is a risk and not the source of the money used to buy them.
The Federal Communications Commission launched a $1.9 billion plan earlier this year. The plan aims to help US operators replace Huawei and ZTE devices they may be using.
“If US data were to be transmitted over these networks, Huawei and ZTE would probably be the two most popular companies and still have a lot of equipment,” representative Steve Scars said last week.
Huawei has not yet commented on the legislation. But he said last summer that the FCC's proposed review was unnecessarily misleading and punitive.
Joe Biden is expected to meet Xi Jinping in a virtual summit tentatively scheduled for Monday. The summit came at a time when trade, human rights, and military activity were tensions.