US Lawmakers Urge Ban on China-Linked Router Maker TP-Link

Seventeen Republican lawmakers urged the Commerce Department to prohibit further sales of equipment from TP-Link Systems Inc., a Wi-Fi router maker whose links to China have raised concerns and prompted investigations in the US.

Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas, a China hawk, as well as 16 senators and representatives wrote a letter to Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick on Wednesday accusing TP-Link of deep ties to China’s ruling Communist Party and calling the company a “clear and present danger.” 

The company has denied the allegations. “As a US company, no foreign country or government – including China – has access to or control over the design and production of our products,” it said in a statement Wednesday. “TP-Link is not a state-sponsored company, has no ‘deep ties’ to, and is completely independent from, the Chinese Communist Party.”

The letter cites reports that Chinese state operatives have exploited TP-Link’s networking devices, including Wi-Fi routers, to wage cyber attacks, and a Bloomberg story on the Justice Department’s investigation into the company’s pricing strategies. The lawmakers also say that China gains access to US systems via TP-Link’s devices “before American authorities know a vulnerability exists.”

“Each day we fail to act, the CCP wins while American competitors suffer, and American security remains at risk,” wrote the lawmakers.

The Commerce Department has started a probe into whether TP-Link’s ties to China pose unacceptable national security risks, Bloomberg reported earlier. Data that the investigators were reviewing show the company has about 60% of the US retail market for Wi-Fi systems and small and home office routers, up from about 10% in early 2019. TP-Link has disputed that data, saying it overstates its market share.

Founded in China, TP-Link split into two separate entities last year, with an American unit based in Irvine, California, and its Chinese business headquartered in Shenzhen. However, a Bloomberg investigation found that the US venture still has substantial operations in mainland China.

In an interview with Bloomberg, Jeffrey Chao, who owns TP-Link’s US business, denied that the company has links to China’s military and intelligence apparatus, and said he had moved all of its most sensitive roles to the US.

©2025 Bloomberg L.P.

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