Equipment Approvals as Supply‑Chain Policy

Regulatory equipment‑authorization rules (e.g., FCC approval for routers and drones) are being used as tools to force reshoring or domestic production as a means of de‑risking strategic supply chains from China. Rather than traditional tariffs or export controls, agencies can condition market access on credible industrial commitments, creating a fast, legally actionable lever. — This reframes an under‑noticed administrative power (device authorizations) as a major, deployable instrument in U.S.–China industrial competition with immediate market and diplomatic effects.