Several US government agencies are reportedly pushing the Commerce Department to ban TP-Link routers, according to The Washington Post. Multiple officials, who remained anonymous, including a former senior Defense Department official, shared details about these internal discussions.
This summer, government agencies like Homeland Security, Justice, and Defense spent months discussing this big move. Investigations into TP-Link over national security worries have been happening since at least last year.
The main reason for the possible ban is concern that TP-Link still has connections to China, even though it became a separate company from the Chinese corporation TP-Link Technologies in 2022. A TP-Link spokesperson denied any ties to China, stating that “any adverse action against TP-Link would have no impact on China, but would harm an American company.”
US officials told The Washington Post they worry that Chinese law could compel TP-Link to assist Chinese intelligence or even to send harmful software updates to its devices. However, the U.S.-based TP-Link Systems said that the company “is not subject to the direction of the PRC intel apparatus.”
TP-Link routers are very popular in the United States, with the company claiming 36% of the US market. Earlier this year, though, former American cybersecurity official Rob Joyce told Congress that TP-Link’s market share was closer to 60%. He suggested this was partly because the company sold its equipment cheaply to push out competitors.
A potential ban on TP-Link products is one of many actions or discussions related to trade talks between the US and China. Even though a possible breakthrough occurred in these talks today, a source told The Washington Post that the administration still sees a TP-Link ban as a negotiating tactic.
