On September 10, local time September 8, the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announced the revocation of accreditation qualifications for seven Chinese-backed electronic product testing laboratories and explicitly rejected renewal applications from four additional institutions.
This action is based on new regulations passed by the FCC in May this year, which officially took effect over the weekend. The regulations prohibit recognition of testing laboratories and telecommunications certification bodies (TCBs) owned by governments or entities controlled by what the US designates as "foreign adversaries." The agency has now begun implementing review procedures, initially targeting 11 registered Chinese-backed laboratories.
According to FCC disclosures, the banned institutions include: Chongqing Institute of Information and Communications Technology, China Quality Certification Centre Connected Vehicle Technology Services Co., Ltd., VKTEST Laboratory Co., Ltd. and its Shanghai branch, TÜV Rheinland-CCIC (Ningbo) Co., Ltd., UL CCIC Co., Ltd., Guangzhou SAI Testing & Certification Co., Ltd., China Academy of Information and Communications Technology, Shanghai Institute of Measurement and Testing Technology, and CCIC Southern Testing Co., Ltd.
In a statement, FCC Chairman Brendan Carr said, "President Trump is vigorously promoting the return of American manufacturing and strengthening the security of critical supply chains. Today's action is an important component of this strategy. We cannot allow foreign adversary nations to control laboratories that conduct safety testing for products entering the American market. This is a necessary measure to restore public trust in the FCC equipment authorization process and address threats from foreign adversaries."
In recent years, the United States has continuously strengthened its scrutiny of China's technology industry chain, particularly escalating restrictive measures in communications equipment, semiconductors, and other sectors. This action targeting testing laboratories indicates that the US is extending its regulatory reach from products themselves to upstream segments such as certification and testing.
Testing and certification represent critical components in the product export process. Losing FCC recognition will directly impact the ability of relevant laboratories' clients to access the American market, and some Chinese companies that rely on these institutions for compliance testing may face export barriers. In the long term, this could further drive the "decoupling" trend between China and the US in technical standards and certification systems.