In recent years, United States officials have grown increasingly wary of Chinese telecommunications companies and technology.

The import or sale of communications equipment from China’s Huawei Technologies and ZTE has been prohibited by United States authorities because they pose an “unacceptable risk” to the country’s national security.

Both companies have been listed as a threat by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), and the new rules prohibit future authorizations of their equipment. The United States FCC also prohibited the sale or import of surveillance equipment manufactured by China’s Dahua Technology Co, video surveillance firm Hangzhou Hikvision Digital Technology Co Ltd, and telecoms firm Hytera Communications Corp Ltd.

The move is the latest in a series of steps to restrict Chinese telecom firms’ access to United States networks, and it comes amid a long-running standoff between the world’s two largest economies.

In recent years United States officials have grown increasingly wary of Chinese telecommunications companies and technology.

“The FCC is committed to protecting our national security by ensuring that untrustworthy communications equipment is not authorized for use within our borders,” said Jessica Rosenworcel, chairwoman of the commission.

She went on to say that the new rules are part of ongoing efforts to protect against security threats.

The FCC concluded that products pose a risk to data security in a 4-0 vote. Previous efforts to limit Chinese access have included export controls on key, sophisticated equipment and software. Recently, US officials considered TikTok restrictions due to concerns that Chinese authorities could access US user data via the video-sharing app.

Previously, Washington barred Huawei Technologies from supplying US government systems and strongly discouraged its use in the private sector, citing concerns that Huawei Technologies’ equipment could be compromised by Chinese intelligence.

It placed Huawei on a trade blacklist in 2019, preventing US suppliers from doing business with it, effectively cutting the Chinese firm – also a top smartphone brand – off Google’s Android mobile operating system.

The United States has also cited national security concerns in order to restrict the operations of China’s three major state-owned mobile carriers.