The US has banned approvals of new telecommunications equipment from China’s ZTE and Huawei Technologies as these companies pose unacceptable risks to US national security. On Friday, the US Federal Communications Commission said the final rules adopted by the agency bar the sale or import of equipment made by Chinese companies Dahua Technology Co, Hangzhou Hikvision Digital Technology Co Ltd and Hytera Communications Corp Ltd.

The move represents the Biden administration’s latest crackdown on the Chinese tech giants amid ongoing fears that China could use them to spy on Americans. While Huawei declined to comment, ZTE, Hytera, and Dahua did not immediately responded. However, Hikvision said that its products don’t threaten US security.

Earlier, the FCC said it was considering a ban on all equipment authorisations for all firms on the covered list. It is to be noted that this development came after a 2021 designation of five Chinese companies on the ‘covered list’ posing a threat to national security of the country under a law (enacted in 2019) aimed at protecting US communications networks.