U.S. bans import of routers due to "severe cybersecurity risks"

The United States has spats with the Chinese government regularly, particularly in areas like trade, technology, and security. President Trump finally approved a multi-billion dollar deal to sell Bytedance-owned TikTok's U.S. operations to an American consortium recently, and there have been some concerns regarding China's position in the AI race too. Now, in a bid to further isolate Chinese tech from American consumers, the country's regulator has taken a major step.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has decided to ban the import of internet routers produced in foreign countries. This follows a determination from the White House that foreign routers are present in pretty much every U.S. home, and they "pose unacceptable risks to the national security of the United States or the safety and security of United States persons."

Reuters notes that 60% of the U.S. market utilizes routers produced by Chinese firms, which means that this decision will have a major impact on that segment. The FCC claims that its decision is also backed by President Trump's 2025 National Security Strategy, which emphasizes the need to reduce dependency on "an any outside power for core components—from raw materials to parts to finished products—necessary to the nation’s defense or economy. We must re-secure our own independent and reliable access to the goods we need to defend ourselves and preserve our way of life."

The FCC has also highlighted several examples of supply chains being disrupted due to cyberattacks that involved the exploitation of foreign routers. FCC Chairman Brendan Carr had the following to say:

I welcome this Executive Branch national security determination, and I am pleased that the FCC has now added foreign-produced routers, which were found to pose an unacceptable national security risk, to the FCC’s Covered List. Following President Trump's leadership, the FCC will continue do our part in making sure that U.S. cyberspace, critical infrastructure, and supply chains are safe and secure.

It's worth noting that this import ban only applies to new routers, and consumers can continue to use all existing routers acquired legally. In addition, producers of consumer-grade routers that receive a conditional approval from the Department of War (DoW) or the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) are exempted from this import ban.