U.S. resorts to rewriting rules again: with manufacturing reshoring out of reach, it alters the game
According to Reuters, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is set to vote on October 29 on whether to bar all Chinese laboratories from providing testing services for electronic devices seeking market access in the United States. If approved, the ban would take effect in December 2028.
In essence, a successful vote would extend U.S. technological restrictions on China from hardware products to the realm of testing and certification.
China currently hosts approximately 200 laboratories accredited by the FCC, which handle about 75% of global FCC compliance testing for electronics. Thus, this move effectively forces a shift of the certification segment within the global electronics supply chain—from China to the United States and its allied nations.
With little prospect of reversing industrial or supply chain relocation, the U.S. is attempting to redefine the rules governing electronic product certification, aiming to exclude China from the system. This reflects a pattern of “unable to compete, so change the rules”—indicating that America’s strategy toward China has evolved from “product decoupling” to “systemic decoupling.”
This approach—changing the rules when unable to win—is no longer isolated. As the United States loses competitive advantages across an increasing number of sectors, similar tactics are likely to become more frequent.
Simply put, when Western powers perceive themselves as leading, they advocate for “fair competition” and champion “free trade”; but once that lead erodes, they quickly abandon the moral standards they have long promoted, even resorting to openly revising the rules to maintain dominance.
Original source: toutiao.com/article/1878477491431556/
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone.