Device makers that certify US-bound phones, computers and cameras in China now face a deadline to move testing, at fees several times higher, unless a mutual recognition deal emerges first.
China’s Ministry of Commerce has told Washington to immediately withdraw a Federal Communications Commission rule that will stop Chinese laboratories from testing smartphones, computers, cameras and other electronics for the US market. The FCC voted on October 29, US time, to end its recognition of testing labs, telecom certification bodies and lab accreditation bodies in China and other "non-reciprocal economies" (非互惠经济体) from December 1, 2028. The ministry’s spokesperson responded the following evening, in a statement carried by Xinhua, saying China firmly opposes the measure, has already taken countermeasures and will take further necessary steps if the US presses ahead.
The scale is what makes the rule consequential. FCC chair Brendan Carr said 82% of electronics were tested in China in 2025, and that about 4% are tested in US labs, according to a Reuters report published by The Korea Times. China has no testing agreement with the United States, which is why its labs fall on the wrong side of the reciprocity test.
The ministry also argued the rule would backfire. The FCC "uses administrative means to intervene in market choices and forcibly pushes so-called testing backshoring," raising testing costs and lengthening delivery and product cycles, the ministry said, according to the South China Morning Post. It called the decision a violation of "the important consensus reached by the two heads of state," weeks before Donald Trump and Xi Jinping are due to meet at the Apec summit in Shenzhen.
The vote turns a proposal the FCC issued in April into a fixed deadline. What China does next is open: the ministry did not say which further measures it is weighing, and Beijing’s earlier response to FCC action was aimed at US drone trade and US certification bodies operating in China.
Washington is moving most US-bound device testing out of China by 2028
Carr framed the labs as a security risk. "These labs are a critical gateway into American communications infrastructure," he said, adding that they see sensitive and confidential product information before devices reach the market and could let insecure equipment into the United States, Reuters reported. The rule applies to labs and certification bodies in any country that denies reciprocal treatment to US-based labs, and the FCC has streamlined approvals for devices tested in the United States or in countries it does not regard as a national security risk.
The vote extends a campaign that began in 2025, when the FCC barred labs owned or controlled by the Chinese government. Reuters reported that several dozen labs were barred under that rule, while Asia Times counted 23 labs whose recognition had been withdrawn or denied and listed later FCC moves against new Chinese drone models, consumer routers, equipment from Huawei and ZTE, and, in July, foreign-made advanced robots.
China’s labs carry much of this work. As of September 2025, China had 175 FCC-recognized labs, more than the United States, and they handled about 75% of FCC-recognized testing, Asia Times reported, citing China’s Science and Technology Daily.
Testing costs and delivery times are the pressure points for device makers
The ministry’s economic argument centered on cost and speed. Pushing testing back to the United States would raise companies’ costs and lengthen product delivery and iteration cycles, the spokesperson said, according to Yicai, and Chinese labs are an important part of the global testing and certification system. The ministry also said China had repeatedly proposed negotiating a mutual recognition agreement and that the US side had not engaged.
The price gap is large. A basic test costs US$400 to US$1,300 in a Chinese lab and US$3,000 to US$4,000 in a US lab, Asia Times reported. Shipping samples abroad takes about two weeks, and with lab queues and retests a full round can exceed a month, a delay that can erase sales of short-lived consumer gadgets. Asia Times expects cross-border e-commerce sellers and small electronics factories with thin margins to feel the effect first, while larger manufacturers weigh moving production to Southeast Asia or absorbing higher logistics costs.
The two-year runway gives companies time to requalify products, but it also gives both governments time to bargain. Beijing has described testing as an area for negotiation; Washington has tied it to national security.
Beijing has already retaliated once, and a mutual recognition deal is the off-ramp
China’s previous response shows the tools it can use. On August 5, Beijing announced case-by-case reviews of drone and drone-component exports to the United States, suspended the authorization of US-based certification bodies to carry out follow-up factory inspections under China’s compulsory certification system, and barred dealings with Arizona-based Compliance Testing LLC, Asia Times reported. EastFrontier covered those countermeasures against FCC curbs when they were announced.
This time the ministry paired its warning with an opening. The spokesperson said China remains open to resolving the dispute through consultation, urging the United States to heed industry concerns and respect market rules. The Chinese Embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Reuters.
The decisive signal will be whether the two sides start talks on a testing mutual recognition agreement before the December 2028 deadline. Short of that, the next markers are any new Chinese measures aimed at US certification firms, and announcements from major device makers about where they will test products for the US market.