US President Joe Biden signed a piece of legislation on Thursday to prevent companies deemed security threats like Huawei or ZTE from obtaining new equipment licenses from US regulators. The Security Equipment Act is the latest US government action to crack down on Chinese telecommunications and technology companies. It was unanimously passed by the US Senate on October 28. Earlier this month, the US House of Representatives passed 420 votes to 4.

The signing came a few days before Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping are expected to hold a virtual summit. Reuters reported that due to trade, human rights and military activity tensions, a meeting is expected to be held on Monday. The new law requires the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to no longer review or approve any authorization applications for devices that pose an unacceptable risk to national security.

FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr said that since 2018, the committee has approved more than 3,000 applications from Huawei. The law “will help ensure that insecure equipment from companies such as Huawei and ZTE can no longer be plugged into U.S. communications networks,” Carl said. In March of this year, the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) listed five Chinese companies as threats to national security under a 2019 law designed to protect US communications networks.

The nominated companies include Huawei and ZTE, which were previously listed, as well as Hytera Communications, Hangzhou Hikvision and Zhejiang Dahua. The US Federal Communications Commission voted unanimously in June to pass a plan to prohibit these Chinese companies from approving equipment in US telecommunications networks, although lawmakers are seeking legislative authorization. The June vote of the Federal Communications Commission was opposed by Beijing.

News Source : Gadgets 360