The FCC Covered List Uncovered, with Loyaan Egal

Mike and Brent invite Loyaan Egal on the podcast to discuss recent developments regarding the US Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC’s) “covered list” and its implications for trade compliance professionals.

Specifically, Mike, Brent, and Loyaan discuss Loyaan’s prior government service in both DOJ and the FCC (01:05); the FCC’s authorities and role (05:29); the US national security concerns driving the US administration’s increasing recourse to the covered list (11:13); what potentially impacted importers should be doing to get ahead of rumored additions to the covered list (15:28); how the conditional approval process works for exception requests (19:22); what importers should expect next in terms of rulemaking (23:55); recent reports that optical transceivers might be soon added to the covered list, and the potential implications for data centers and for companies in the optical transceiver supply chain (26:03); how in the president’s second term the FCC is filling a role previously envisioned for the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry & Security’s Office of Information and Communications Technology and Services (OICTS), and speculation as to why that is happening (28:13); and what companies should be thinking about in terms of getting ahead of potential FCC enforcement actions (29:54).

They then conclude with the latest installment of Brent’s “Managing Up” segment (36:31).

More about Loyaan: https://www.morganlewis.com/bios/loyaanegal

Connect with Loyaan on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/loyaan-egal/

Contact Loyaan: loyaan.egal@morganlewis.com

Reuters Article: Alexandra Alper, “Trump administration drafting ban on Chinese data center devices, sources say” (Aug. 4, 2026): https://www.reuters.com/world/trump-administration-drafting-ban-chinese-data-center-devices-sources-say-2026-08-04/

More about Brent: https://www.redflagsrising.com/founder

Connect with Brent on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brent-carlson-41ba692/

Contact Brent: brent@redflagsrising.com

More about Mike: https://www.morganlewis.com/bios/michaelhuneke

Connect with Mike on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mhuneke/

Contact Mike: michael.huneke@hugheshubbard.com