U.S. restrictions on electronics testing labs to begin in 2028, threaten higher costs
Key Facts
The U.S. Federal Communications Commission voted on October 29, 2026, to restrict recognition of telecommunications testing laboratories, accreditation bodies and laboratory accreditation bodies in economies Washington describes as non-reciprocal. The restrictions take effect on December 1, 2028, when recognition of those entities and related testing and accreditation activities for the commission will be prohibited in those economies. China’s Ministry of Commerce said the measure harms the interests of China and other trading partners and threatens the stability of global production and supply chains. The decision matters because laboratories play a role in the certification process for electronic devices intended for sale and use in the United States. According to commission Chairman Brendan Carr, 82% of electronics were tested in China during 2025, Reuters reported.
The decision does not apply only to Chinese laboratories. It covers entities in any economy that has no mutual recognition agreement or similar reciprocal trade agreement with the United States. The U.S. Federal Register defines this status as lacking either of those two types of agreements. Recognition is therefore tied to reciprocal arrangements between Washington and the economy concerned, rather than simply to access to U.S. testing facilities. The commission said laboratories review devices intended for sale or use in the United States under its equipment authorization program. That process forms part of the requirements for devices to enter the U.S. market.
The commission cited the role of laboratories and accreditation bodies in verifying that products comply with safety, radio frequency and national security requirements. Carr said their position in the certification process gives laboratories access to sensitive and confidential product information before products are introduced to the market, sometimes months before they enter it. This rationale frames the issue around oversight of information and products, as well as the place of testing in electronics supply chains. In a separate estimate cited by Carr, laboratories in the United States tested less than 4% of electronic devices, according to a Reuters report published on October 7, 2026. That figure sits alongside his estimate that China accounted for testing 82% of electronics in 2025.
Beijing warned that forcibly shifting testing could raise companies’ costs and extend product delivery times and upgrade cycles. China’s Ministry of Commerce said those burdens could ultimately affect U.S. companies and consumers. It added that the measures “severely harm the interests of China and other trading partners, severely disrupt the stability of China-U.S. economic and trade relations, and severely undermine the stability of global production and supply chains.” The ministry did not provide a numerical estimate of the cost or potential delays. Its warning, however, directly links the expected impact to product testing, delivery and upgrades.
China said it had previously proposed negotiating a bilateral mutual recognition agreement and had expressed readiness to address the issue through consultations. Washington, meanwhile, called for the measures to be scrapped immediately and warned of countermeasures if the United States continued to act unilaterally. The threat places the commission’s decision within a series of trade tensions between the two countries in the technology sector. Beijing had listed U.S. testing firm Compliance Testing among its countermeasures, barring entities and individuals in China from doing business or cooperating with it. The Chinese measure took effect on August 5, 2026.