⚖ Oral Arguments, with Context

The D.C. Circuit hears Hikvision USA versus the Federal Communications Commission. Hikvision challenges a federal rule that allows limits on the importation and sale of certain equipment the FCC had already approved. In 2021, Congress directed the FCC to stop approving new equipment on a national-security Covered List. That list includes some Hikvision equipment, but earlier approvals did not automatically disappear. In October 2025, the FCC adopted a separate process for restricting the importation and marketing of previously approved covered devices. These restrictions do not require owners to stop using equipment they already have. Hikvision brought this petition for review to challenge the agency's authority to create that process. The company says the power to deny new approvals does not itself supply the power to restrict old ones. The FCC says Congress preserved its authority to take that later step. Central to the dispute is a rule of construction, language explaining how the statute should be read. It says this law does not prohibit later review of earlier authorizations. Whether that language authorizes these restrictions, or merely leaves other law unchanged, is contested. The court also asks whether Hikvision had standing to sue, including whether this particular rule caused a concrete injury when the company filed. Tim Simeone will ask the court to set the rule aside.

Hikvision USA, Inc. v. FCC (No. 25-1274) — U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, argued October 6, 2026.