It has been a few years since the US government banned Huawei from using any Google Mobile services. Besides Huawei, other Chinese telecommunications companies such as ZTE also got listed in the trade restrictions. Today, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will again launch another investigation on the companies if they have been violating the ban.
With President Trump back in office, the FCC is under a new administration with Brendan Carr. The reason for launching another "sweeping investigation" is that the FCC believes the Chinese telco companies have been abusing the loopholes in the legislation to continue operating in the country. Carr said they are "camouflaging" under "particular types of operations or otherwise" not covered by the law.
With this, Carr's goal in this investigation is to “close any loopholes that have permitted untrustworthy, foreign adversary state-backed actors to skirt its rules.” He also has three main goals, which are to reduce the country's reliance on foreign technology in certain areas, to protect vulnerabilities from cyberattacks and espionage, and to ensure the US as the lead in technologies against China.
As reported before, the US believes the sanctioned companies are aligned with the Chinese Communist Party, hence, banning them in the name of national security. Even after Biden took over the office, his executive order continued the ban to ensure “untrustworthy communications equipment is not authorized for use within [US] borders".
Besides Huawei and ZTE, the most recent blockade is TikTok facing a potential ban in the US. The company was once blocked temporarily until returning to the Apple App and Google Play Store in the US, under orders from newly-elected President Trump. He also gave TikTok an extra 75 days to continue operating until it finds a potential buyer, but until now, there is no news about it.
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