FCC Proposal Would End Chinese Labs' Role In US Device Testing

Authored by Kimberly Hayek via The Epoch Times,

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will vote on Oct. 29 on rules that restrict electronics testing to U.S. labs and countries that offer reciprocal recognition, with Chinese labs expected to be hit hardest.

The commission said in a statement Wednesday that it lacks confidence in testing done in economies without a reciprocal framework, where it has seen a pattern of egregious violations. It also said shifting testing abroad has left the equipment-authorization program overconcentrated and harder to oversee.

The statement did not mention China, which handled about 83 percent of FCC certification applications in 2025. China does not grant U.S. testing labs reciprocal recognition.

Before a phone, camera, computer, or any other electronic device can be marketed in the United States, it has to be tested at an FCC-recognized lab. The Oct. 29 order would change which labs can hold that recognition.

"For decades, officials in D.C. looked the other way when foreign nations abused their relationships with America and adopted trade practices that failed to account for basic concepts of reciprocity and fair dealing," FCC Chairman Brendan Carr said in the statement.

"Those efforts included the offshoring of testing capacity to foreign labs and the gutting of American jobs and domestic industry.

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