The FCC is investigating whether Chinese manufacturers black-listed on its so-called Covered List – including Huawei – are still somehow doing business in America, either by misreading the rules or willfully ignoring them.

The US communications regulator said it has sent formal letters of inquiry and at least one subpoena to entities on that list, which includes what the FCC refers to as “CCP-aligned businesses,” meaning the Chinese Communist Party, that are deemed, per the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Act of 2019, to pose an “unacceptable risk” to the United States’ national security.

The agency is wants to know whether some of those entities continue to operate in the US, either because they do not believe the list prohibits at least some of operations, or for some other reason.

Some or all of these entities are trying to make an end run around those FCC prohibitions

“The FCC has taken concrete actions to address the threats posed by Huawei, ZTE, China Telecom, and many other entities that pose an unacceptable risk to America’s national security, including by doing Communist China’s bidding,” FCC boss Brendan Carr said in an announcement [PDF] at the end of last week.

We asked those three corporations for a response. Huawei told us it was not commenting at this time.

Carr reckons transgressions are taking place.

“We have reason to believe that, despite those actions, some or all of these Covered List entities are trying to make an end run around those FCC prohibitions by continuing to do business in America on a private or ‘unregulated’ basis,” he added.

The FCC is now working to identify the scope of any such activities and close any loopholes that may have permitted “untrustworthy, foreign adversary state-backed actors” to skirt the rules.

That includes gathering detailed information about their ongoing US operations, including any other companies – presumably including some domestic firms – that may be aiding those operations. The FCC will take appropriate action in response, it said.

As well as the three big names rattled off by Carr, the watchdog is understood to be probing Hytera Communications Corporation, Hangzhou Hikvision Digital Technology, Dahua Technology, China Mobile International USA, Pacifica Networks, and China Unicom (Americas) – basically every company on the list apart from Russian cybersecurity shop Kaspersky Lab.

Huawei was a particular target during President Trump’s first term, taking repeated hits, including its addition to the Commerce Department’s entity list in 2019, basically a no-fly list for trade. The move barred the Chinese tech giant from, among other things, buying components from American firms without government approval.

The sanctions took a heavy toll on Huawei, with profits plunging nearly by half in early 2023 compared to the previous year. The biz also wound down its public and government relations teams, laying off staff after efforts to lobby Washington fell flat. However, the hardware maker soon bounced back, reporting a sharp rebound in profits.

Meanwhile, it was reported last week that Carr is on a mission to convince European countries to ditch Huawei from their networks, in a measure of how much this administration has everyone’s best interests at heart. His urging can’t be helped by the fact that US networks have been slow to strip out Chinese-made telecoms kit, largely because Washington hasn’t coughed up enough cash to cover the cost. ®