The trade dispute between China and the USA is going into the next round. Now the US government has issued new bans on the sale of Chinese technology products. Among other things, the devices of the smartphone manufacturer Huawei are affected.

An “unacceptable risk” to national security: this is how the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC for short) justifies the sales ban on telecommunications equipment and surveillance technology from China. It fears that sensitive company data could end up in the hands of Chinese government agencies. The blacklist includes numerous well-known manufacturers, including Huawei, ZTE and Hangzhou.

The background

For several years now, the U.S. government has been working to cut China off from sensitive data and sensitive security technology. As recently as 2019, then-President Donald Trump had a National Telecommunications Emergency declared due to the simmering trade conflict with China. In October 2022, the White House adopted strict export controls on the supply of microchips and highly specialized machine tools for chip manufacturing. U.S. corporations will only be allowed to do business with Chinese manufacturers with permission.

Import and sales ban on smartphones

The latest measures affect a total of ten Chinese companies whose business relations with the US were already severely restricted. As a result of the new order, smartphones made by Huawei and ZTE, among others, may neither be imported nor sold in the US. What’s more, the ban also applies to services. This means that already older products can no longer be serviced by the manufacturers. This is the first time in the history of the FCC that the approval of new devices is prohibited due to concerns about national security, FCC head Jessica Rosenworcel announced.

Possible consequences also for Europe

With the new restrictions, President Joe Biden is continuing the sanctions policy of his predecessor Donald Trump. His import tariffs are almost all still in force. In addition, the U.S. government also wants other Western countries to restrict business relations with Chinese companies such as Huawei. EU states have so far rejected this. However, the European Union is currently discussing a response to the current US bans.