(Credit: Mark Abramson/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
TP-Link says it's pouring “hundreds of millions of dollars” into bringing its product manufacturing to the US as it pursues an exemption to the FCC’s foreign-made Wi-Fi router ban.
TP-Link disclosed the information in a regulatory filing about a Wednesday meeting its lawyers had with Adam Chan, National Security Counsel for FCC Chairman Brendan Carr.
Last week, TP-Link also met with FCC officials about applying for an exemption to the router ban, officially known as a conditional approval. At Wednesday’s meeting, TP-Link went further and “previewed its application for Conditional Approval of its consumer-grade routers.”
During the meeting, the company also noted that: “TP-Link is investing hundreds of millions of dollars to bring manufacturing and research and development of its consumer routers to the US, in alignment with the FCC’s policy goals. Conditional Approval will enable TP-Link to complete those investments,” the company wrote.
That last part is interesting because it suggests TP-Link could pull the plug on the investment if the US denies it a temporary exemption to the router ban. TP-Link didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment about the manufacturing investments. But a company web page previously said the vendor has been using a factory in Vietnam to build US-sold routers since 2018. The same page notes "TP-Link is investing heavily in US R&D and manufacturing."
(Credit: PCMag)Under the ban, TP-Link can continue selling existing products, but it's blocked from selling new, foreign-made Wi-Fi routers unless it receives an exemption. A bigger problem is that the current FCC order will, in theory, prevent the company from issuing software updates to existing TP-Link routers in the US starting in March 2027, although the FCC is indicating it’ll clarify that policy.
Hence, the ban could derail and even doom TP-Link’s business in the US. In Wednesday’s meeting, the company noted it “already employs over 550 employees in the United States, including hundreds of engineers working at its California headquarters.”
TP-Link also emphasized its status as "a US company, with headquarters in Irvine, California." In 2024, TP-Link completed a separation from its Chinese counterpart. Still, US officials have long been concerned that the Chinese government could exploit TP-Link products for state-sponsored spying. Texas's attorney general has even sued, alleging that TP-Link products still contain mostly Chinese components.
TP-Link has repeatedly denied the security threat allegations, arguing that its security track record in handling router vulnerabilities matches or exceeds those of other market players. Still, the Trump administration enacted the ban, citing the threat of foreign-made manufacturers introducing supply chain vulnerabilities in Wi-Fi routers that hackers—including Chinese state-sponsored groups—could exploit to attack the US.
The White House had reportedly been considering a ban specifically on TP-Link routers. But according to The Wall Street Journal, the Trump administration decided to target all foreign-made routers to prevent angering China ahead of upcoming trade talks. The only problem is that nearly all consumer-grade Wi-Fi routers are made outside the country, in markets such as Vietnam, Mexico, and Taiwan.
To prevent a short-term disruption, the FCC is offering temporary exemptions to the ban, but it requires applicants to submit a detailed plan for relocating their manufacturing to the US, including financing. So far, only three US-based vendors—Netgear, Adtran, and Amazon’s eero brand—have received 18-month reprieves. The big question is whether any foreign vendors will receive the same exemption.
In the Wednesday meeting, TP-Link stressed that its products are affordable, positively reviewed, and pose no threat to the US. “TP-Link routers are safe and secure. Publicly available data places TP-Link on par with or ahead of other major industry players in terms of security outcomes,” the filing adds.