FCC Turns Product Testing Into US-China Gatekeeping

The US Federal Communications Commission voted on October 29 to stop recognizing product-testing and certification bodies in China and other economies without a reciprocal agreement with the United States. The restrictions take effect on December 1, 2028. A government agency now draws the line around whose test results count in a major export market.

FCC chairman Brendan Carr said about 82 per cent of US equipment-authorisation applications last year were associated with testing firms in China, while fewer than 4 per cent involved testing in the United States. The decision reaches into that imbalance by making recognition of foreign testing bodies conditional on a "mutual recognition agreement" or comparable arrangement.

Tan Poh Hwee, president of the Asia Academy of Digital Economics, a Singapore-based non-profit, and a corresponding fellow of the National Academy of Artificial Intelligence, called laboratories certifying products for the US market the latest front in the US-China technology contest. He said the FCC action exposes a strategic weakness for Beijing: it doesn't control whether its test results are accepted in a major export market.

Who Gets to Certify

The FCC's decision is a gatekeeping measure over the route products take toward US authorisation. The article doesn't specify which individual companies or workers will bear the consequences, but it does describe an existing reliance on Chinese testing firms and a policy that can exclude bodies without reciprocal arrangements. The state sets the terms; laboratories operating across borders must meet them to have their work recognized.

In Singapore, Prime Minister Lawrence Wong said on Nov 5 that policymakers and technologists should work together earlier, with technology built into policymaking from the beginning. Speaking at the Government Technology Agency's (GovTech) 10th anniversary dinner at the Marina Bay Sands Expo and Convention Centre, Wong said, "Technology cannot be an afterthought in policymaking. It must be part of the process from the very beginning."

Wong also cautioned against treating technology as an automatic cure. "Sometimes, the best solution is not more sophisticated technology, but a simpler policy," he said. He cited the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority, which reduced 33 combinations of penalties for late filings to four. "The result was a simpler policy, a simpler system and better outcomes," Wong said.

Modernisation, With People on the Line

Wong said Cabinet ministers need a stronger understanding of technology, while GovTech officers should help solve public-policy problems, challenge assumptions and question requirements that add unnecessary complexity. He contrasted the traditional "waterfall" process—requirements, approval, procurement, construction, launch and maintenance—with an iterative method that puts products in users' hands early and improves them through feedback.

He called for changes to how projects are scoped, funded and procured, and how teams are held accountable. Government agencies, he said, should use shared platforms and components rather than build systems from scratch. Systems also need continued improvement to remain secure, reliable and valuable.

The same government agency promoting technological capability has retrenched 131 people from its 3,900-strong team in two rounds of layoffs since July, with another round to come. GovTech expects 7% to 9% of its workforce to be affected over the next two years, including that third round. Wong said, "I know it has been a difficult period for some officers. And we will continue to support the affected officers as they acquire new skills and prepare for new opportunities, whether within GovTech or outside."

Wong said the Government is systematically reviewing and modernising legacy systems, which are harder to maintain, slower to update and harder to patch. Even seemingly simple policy changes can take months. "It is painstaking work, and much of it will never be visible to the public," he said, calling the work essential to prevent legacy systems from holding the Government back and to respond more quickly to changing needs.

Congressional Checks, Competitive Direction

The Democrats' victory in both chambers of Congress could complicate President Donald Trump's efforts to make further deals with China and increase pressure over Taiwan and technology restrictions. The Nov 3 elections flipped both the House of Representatives and the Senate; a divided government will take shape when the new Congress takes office in January 2027.

Trump retains broad foreign-policy authority, while the Democratic Party will have greater power to scrutinise his administration. Sun Chenghao, a senior fellow at Tsinghua University's Center for International Security and Strategy in Beijing, said, "Democratic control of both chambers will change how Washington makes China policy more than its underlying competitive direction." He said oversight could constrain initiatives needing funding or legislation and make concessions or agreements harder to implement. Sun said a politically weakened Trump might seek agreements while facing pressure to appear tough, leaving both tendencies in play: "Both tendencies could coexist, making the relationship more vulnerable to conflicting signals from Washington."