The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) was once a sleepy backwater. It auctioned spectrum. It licensed TV stations. Then came Trump. Reuters reported on August 10 that the agency has morphed into the administration’s spearhead on China.
Under Chairman Brendan Carr, a Trump ally, the FCC has spent nine months swinging a wrecking ball at Chinese tech. It banned imports of new Chinese drones, routers, inverters, and even humanoid robots. It also launched a process to block Chinese labs from testing smartphones, cameras, and computers destined for the US market. All are measures the US says threaten the supply chain.
Reuters also noted the FCC is drafting a ban on Chinese data center components. The aim: protect the US infrastructure that underpins the artificial intelligence boom.
US officials told Reuters the White House backs these moves. But here’s the twist: the FCC is trying to do it all without provoking Beijing. The method? Target Chinese technology without ever saying ‘China’. The idea is to keep the pressure on while avoiding a diplomatic blow-up. One official put it bluntly: the FCC is now ‘the tip of the spear’ of Washington’s economic policy toward China.
Officials described the FCC’s playbook: don’t mention China. Instead, ban foreign imports of specific technologies and then hand out exemptions to non-Chinese companies. The aim is to push Chinese equipment out of the tech supply chain and boost American manufacturing. The White House has given its blessing.
The China Hawk at the Helm
It is no exaggeration: The Trump administration has turned the FCC into the center of gravity for its competitive actions against China. That’s the blunt assessment from Eric Sayers, a researcher at the American Enterprise Institute, a US think tank.
Brendan Carr took over the FCC in January 2025. He quickly made a name for himself with investigations into broadcast companies. Democrats blasted those moves as an attack on press freedom.
But Carr is also a ‘China hawk.’ Once at the helm, he made expanding national security authority his top priority. His focus: network and supply chain vulnerabilities from ‘foreign adversaries,’ with China at the very top of the list.
China Hits Back: Diversified and Tit-for-Tat
China is already pushing back. Beijing has repeatedly condemned the US actions as discriminatory treatment against Chinese companies. It warns those moves could disrupt global supply chains. And it will take necessary measures to safeguard its rights and interests.
On August 5, China fired back. As Guancha.cn reported, Beijing rolled out five countermeasures simultaneously to hit back at US restrictions. The Ministry of Commerce spokesperson urged Washington to “cherish the hard-won stability of China-US economic and trade relations”. And the warning was blunt: if the US persists, China will retaliate further.
But foreign media noticed something else. They described China’s latest moves as “restrained but diversified and tit-for-tat”.
The measures hit multiple fronts. China tightened export controls on drones and related technologies. It slapped sanctions on several US companies. And it launched its first-ever national security investigation tied to foreign trade.
Meng Weizhan, an associate professor at Fudan University’s Institute for Advanced Study in Social Sciences, sees a clear message. Through what he calls “diversified and hard-hitting” moves, China is signaling that for every area the US expands, Beijing can retaliate in an adjacent or corresponding field.
Once Washington gets the message, Meng argues, it will become more cautious. Even if it doesn’t back down right away, it will start counting the costs more carefully.
