TP-Link, the latest Chinese brand facing a US ban

• TP-Link could be banned in the United States by 2025.
• The brand is accused of predatory pricing and willful shipping of routers with security vulnerabilities.
• It is alleged that the company’s products contain these defects, allowing state-sponsored hackers easy access to the United States.

Shenzen-based networking company TP-Link could face a U.S. ban if the U.S. Departments of Commerce, Defense and Justice uncover concerns during their investigations.

Government agencies have reportedly opened an investigation because they fear the company is linked to Chinese cyberattacks, according to CNETquoting the Wall Street Journal.

One source claims that TP-Link routers tend to ship with security flaws and refuse to work with security researchers to fix these flaws. However, as explained MalwarebytesTP-Link has also been accused of predatory pricing and being sponsored by the Chinese government. It could therefore be banned in the United States in 2025.

On this predatory pricing note, TP-Link would have I pulled an Amazon and underperformed its competitors to such an extent that TP-Link increased its share of WiFi systems and routers for small and home offices from 10% to 60%.

But by far the biggest concern is that the company’s routers could provide a gateway to American homes and offices, allowing state-sponsored hackers to wreak havoc.

“TP-Link’s unusual degree of vulnerabilities and required compliance with PRC (People’s Republic of China) law is in itself disconcerting. Combined with the PRC government’s routine use of SOHO (small office/home office) routers like TP-Link to perpetrate large-scale cyberattacks in the United States, this becomes considerably alarming,” the investigating lawmaker wrote on the matter to Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo. in August.

The reason this appears to be gaining traction again is due to an alleged attack by China against President-elect Donald Trump and Vice President-elect JD Vance.

THE The Special Committee on the CCP wrote this week that state-sponsored cybercriminals compromised more than a dozen telecommunications providers. This attack saw text messages, audio calls and data recovered from millions of US citizens, with a focus on Trump, Vance and some Kamal Harris campaign staff.

The response from lawmakers has been to fight back, and one way to do that would be to ban Chinese brands and products in the United States. However, banning TP-Link could spell disaster for American citizens.

As CNET points out, 64.9% of US routers are made by the company and if the brand were banned, citizens would have to replace them, likely at their own expense. With the brand being accused of undercutting its competitors, this means a new router could cost a person more than their TP-Link router. As the publication reports, a comparable router from an American company costs more than twice as much as a TP-Link router.

With TikTok on the verge of being banned unless there is a change from US lawmakers and now TP-Link, it seems the US really doesn’t want Chinese technology inside its borders, lest they offer hackers a way to spy on the country.

As things stand, this could become the next Huawei.