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- Hacker News
- Aside from the majority of comments being related to whether or not the article is LLM generated 8-/ There still remains the question of the US de-certifying Chinese FCC approval labs.
It's not like the US has the strictest radio requirements on products, in fact, it's close to the opposite. Both asia and europe have much stricter emissions and sensitivity requirements.
But the big question to me, is what do they intend to do about the overwhelming majority of US consumed electronics being built in China?
The idea of abandoning chinese manufacturing is a delusion. It would take decades.
The idea that we do the "really advanced, complicated" manufacturing in the US, and let the Chinese build the "simple" stuff is even more delusional. China has the most advanced manufacturing tech, and the greatest scale of manufacturing in the world, by far. By very very far.
Sure, the US could catch up, assuming they stop banning Chinese cars and other advanced products and instead start importing and learning from them.
All of this delusional thinking goes back to one common source: elect a clown, expect a circus...
by johnea - Why is OPs comment on his own work that hit first page flagged and dead? Is it repeating info from the article?by gchamonlive
- This will make testing more expensive and hence some will no longer bother to FCC test excluding the US from receiving their product. Especially small companies and startups.
I did not FCC certify my product because the primary focus is for the European market but now I would also have to consider costs.
by sschueller - This article completely omits a section on when external accreditation. For many products you can get CE marking or similar with in-house testing.by c-c-c-c-c
- I have first hand experience with this. It may look like a politically motivated move, but in the RF industry when you need something to pass, China is known to be much friendlier/lax than other labs.
For those who don't know, the point of these labs is to generate certified test results. The lab's job is to certify that the test was done correctly with calibrated test equipment. They then give you the results which you then give to the regulating body.
However, you are the one who knows your product and how it operates. You are present in the lab, in the room, doing the testing with them. This introduces a lot of grey area where a lab may or may not go along with what you say. Chinese labs are known for just going along with it. After all, you are the one paying them tens of thousands, and they know you probably have many other products that need certifying. It's mutually beneficial for them to be lax.
by WarmWash - > The core proposal bans all labs in China and Hong Kong, extending the "Bad Labs" rule the FCC adopted in May 2025. A broader proposal would also cut off labs in any country without a Mutual Recognition Agreement with the US, which adds 5 more labs (4 in India, 1 in Switzerland). Total at risk: 131 labs, 22.2% of the global total.
As expected this is an attack on China-sourced electronics.
I hope this isn’t the start of a return to the Bad Times when many niche electronics were simply unavailable at any price, and what was available was $1K+ for what should be commodity gear.
What the FCC does is important, but there needs to be a sense of proportionality. I am a ham radio user but I am not particularly bothered if my $30 DVD player has a few spurious emissions, as long as they aren’t egregious. I also don’t mind imperfect but cheap radios like Baofengs if they help get people into the hobby. It’s good to have a box of these to hand out in emergency situations! Can’t do that with Yaesus unless you’re made of money.
by iamnothere - This article is excessively LLM written to the point that there’s barely any real information in between all of the unnecessary pie charts and repeated points.
This move is being executed too broadly, in my opinion, but the “bad labs” problem especially in China is widely known in the industry. If you spend any time in the electronics industry at smaller companies you will encounter people who know Chinese labs that will give your product passing test results every time as long as you’re not so far past the limits that it’s too obvious.
by Aurornis