Will TP-Link really make routers in the US? Here’s what it told us
Router manufacturer TP-Link has offered to invest nearly $1 billion to establish domestic assembly operations in Mississippi to navigate strict US foreign router bans. However, the plan is contingent upon the Federal Communications Commission granting a conditional waiver.
Why it matters
Geopolitical tech restrictions and trade policies are forcing major hardware manufacturers to heavily invest in domestic production and navigate complex regulatory approvals.
TP-Link, one of the world’s leading manufacturers of consumer Wi-Fi routers, is in a precarious position in the US. The company just launched its first Wi-Fi 8 routers, but can’t bring them here because of President Donald Trump’s foreign router ban. Even though competitors Netgear and Asus make their routers in Asia, they’ve mysteriously obtained blanket waivers for all their new gear; perhaps because of alleged ties to China, TP-Link hasn’t managed to get such a waiver yet.
But TP-Link is willing to do something those companies weren’t — to invest nearly $1 billion to make routers in the United States, creating “hundreds of high-paying research and development, manufacturing, and construction jobs for American workers over the next four years,” according to a letter TP-Link sent to the FCC.
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