Hikvision, Dahua Technology Among Chinese Companies Added to U.S. Government Blacklist

Hikvision, Dahua Technology Among Chinese Companies Added to U.S. Government Blacklist

The Trump administration has added 28 more Chinese organizations to its entity list, which forbids American companies from selling their products to foreign companies without government permission.

After banning American companies from doing business with Chinese tech company Huawei, the Commerce Department announced Monday that it will blacklist another 28 Chinese organizations, including two giants in the video surveillance industry: Hikvision and Dahua Technology. 

The organizations, which also included several Chinese government entities, were punished due to their association with human rights abuses and violations in China’s campaign to target Uighurs and other ethnic Muslim minorites in the Chinese province of Xinjiang, according to the Commerce Department. 

“The U.S. Government and Department of Commerce cannot and will not tolerate the brutal suppression of ethnic minorities within China,” Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross said in a statement. “This action will ensure that our technologies, fostered in an environment of individual liberty and free enterprise, are not used to repress defenseless minority populations.”

The move to add the companies to the Entity List will affect their ability to buy American technology without official government approval, which is notoriously difficult to obtain once a company has been added to the list. 

In its response to the announcement, Hikvision denied committing human rights violations and said it has been working with government officials over the past year to “clarify misunderstandings about the company.” In January, Hikvision also retained former U.S. Ambassador Pierre Richard Prosper to advise on human rights compliance. 

“Punishing Hikvision, despite these engagements, will deter global companies from communicating with the U.S. government, hurt Hikvision’s U.S. businesses partners and negatively impact the U.S. economy,” a company spokesperson said in a statement.

Dahua Technology said it strongly protested the decision and called on the Trump administration to reconsider it due its “lack of any factual basis.” 

“Dahua is actively working to ensure our investment and business operations around the world to comply with all applicable laws and regulations,” the company said in a statement posted to its website. “Regarding such decision of U.S. government, we have actively taken various measures, and we will continue providing outstanding products and services to our customers.”

Similar to Huawei, both Hikvision and Dahua have been suspended from ONVIF for as long as the U.S. levies sanctions against them, SecurityInfoWatch reported

Other companies affected by the blacklist specialize in artificial intelligence, facial recognition and video surveillance, including Megvii Technology, Yitu Technologies and SenseTime. 

The impact of the blacklist decision on the corporations will likely be mixed in the short term, The New York Times reported. Many companies can find ways to replace their American components, including U.S.-made chips. It will be more difficult for those companies to replace the back-end servers that allow customers to analyze footage and store surveillance video.

In the long term, the Chinese companies on the entity list may face obstacles to operating in American and European markets as well as recruiting employees in the U.S., the Times reported. Hikvision has more than 34,000 employees worldwide across a number of divisions, and Dahua employes over 16,000 people in Latin America, Europe and North America. 

“Most global technology companies are setting up labs abroad, partnering with the best universities around the world and looking to recruit top talent from everywhere,” Matt Sheehan, a fellow at MacroPolo, told the Times. “That all just got a lot harder now that they’re marked with the scarlet letter of the entity list.”

The announcement comes as China faces growing criticism for its detention and surveillance of the Uighur minority in the name of rooting out Islamic extremism in the country. The surveillance operation, which has involved the deployment of facial recognition technology to track over one million people living in Xinjiang, was cited in the Commerce Department’s announcement. 

“Located in [Xinjiang] and throughout China, these entities have all been implicated in the implementation of China’s campaign of repression, mass arbitrary detention, and high-technology surveillance,” the announcement reads.

 

Featured

  • Report: 47 Percent of Security Service Providers Are Not Yet Using AI or Automation Tools

    Trackforce, a provider of security workforce management platforms, today announced the launch of its 2025 Physical Security Operations Benchmark Report, an industry-first study that benchmarks both private security service providers and corporate security teams side by side. Based on a survey of over 300 security professionals across the globe, the report provides a comprehensive look at the state of physical security operations. Read Now

    • Guard Services
  • Identity Governance at the Crossroads of Complexity and Scale

    Modern enterprises are grappling with an increasing number of identities, both human and machine, across an ever-growing number of systems. They must also deal with increased operational demands, including faster onboarding, more scalable models, and tighter security enforcement. Navigating these ever-growing challenges with speed and accuracy requires a new approach to identity governance that is built for the future enterprise. Read Now

  • Eagle Eye Networks Launches AI Camera Gun Detection

    Eagle Eye Networks, a provider of cloud video surveillance, recently introduced Eagle Eye Gun Detection, a new layer of protection for schools and businesses that works with existing security cameras and infrastructure. Eagle Eye Networks is the first to build gun detection into its platform. Read Now

  • Report: AI is Supercharging Old-School Cybercriminal Tactics

    AI isn’t just transforming how we work. It’s reshaping how cybercriminals attack, with threat actors exploiting AI to mass produce malicious code loaders, steal browser credentials and accelerate cloud attacks, according to a new report from Elastic. Read Now

  • Pragmatism, Productivity, and the Push for Accountability in 2025-2026

    Every year, the security industry debates whether artificial intelligence is a disruption, an enabler, or a distraction. By 2025, that conversation matured, where AI became a working dimension in physical identity and access management (PIAM) programs. Observations from 2025 highlight this turning point in AI’s role in access control and define how security leaders are being distinguished based on how they apply it. Read Now

New Products

  • ResponderLink

    ResponderLink

    Shooter Detection Systems (SDS), an Alarm.com company and a global leader in gunshot detection solutions, has introduced ResponderLink, a groundbreaking new 911 notification service for gunshot events. ResponderLink completes the circle from detection to 911 notification to first responder awareness, giving law enforcement enhanced situational intelligence they urgently need to save lives. Integrating SDS’s proven gunshot detection system with Noonlight’s SendPolice platform, ResponderLink is the first solution to automatically deliver real-time gunshot detection data to 911 call centers and first responders. When shots are detected, the 911 dispatching center, also known as the Public Safety Answering Point or PSAP, is contacted based on the gunfire location, enabling faster initiation of life-saving emergency protocols.

  • PE80 Series

    PE80 Series by SARGENT / ED4000/PED5000 Series by Corbin Russwin

    ASSA ABLOY, a global leader in access solutions, has announced the launch of two next generation exit devices from long-standing leaders in the premium exit device market: the PE80 Series by SARGENT and the PED4000/PED5000 Series by Corbin Russwin. These new exit devices boast industry-first features that are specifically designed to provide enhanced safety, security and convenience, setting new standards for exit solutions. The SARGENT PE80 and Corbin Russwin PED4000/PED5000 Series exit devices are engineered to meet the ever-evolving needs of modern buildings. Featuring the high strength, security and durability that ASSA ABLOY is known for, the new exit devices deliver several innovative, industry-first features in addition to elegant design finishes for every opening.

  • AC Nio

    AC Nio

    Aiphone, a leading international manufacturer of intercom, access control, and emergency communication products, has introduced the AC Nio, its access control management software, an important addition to its new line of access control solutions.