Networking vendor TP-Link found itself under scrutiny from Congress over its links to the Chinese government.
In an open letter (PDF) to the Department of Commerce, House Reps. John Moolenaar and Raja Krishnamoorthi asked the DOC to launch a full investigation into TP-Kink and whether any of its products posed a national security threat in the US.
“Open-source information indicates that the company may represent a serious threat to U.S. ICTS security,” the pair wrote.
“We therefore request that Commerce investigate TP-Link under its ICTS authorities to determine whether the company poses a national security risk. If it finds that is the case, we request that Commerce use its ICTS authorities to properly mitigate the risk.”
The fear amongst the House subcommittee on the Chinese Communist Party is that the CCP could embed TP-Link’s home and small business routers with backdoors or other malware that would allow officials in China to spy on select users or potentially intercept sensitive communications and data.
“Ninety-five percent of U.S. adults reported that they used the internet in 2023, with small office/home office (SOHO) routers serving as a principal means for U.S. residents to access the internet,” the two lawmakers pointed out.
“According to industry reports and press releases, as of 2022, TP-Link is the world’s largest provider of Wi-Fi products, selling over 160 million products annually to more than 170 countries, and is a leading SOHO router provider in the United States.”
While it’s unlikely an investigation would lead to an all out ban for TP-Link on sales in the U.S., it could face other sanctions, such as orders barring government agencies and contractors from purchasing some or all of its products.
TP-Link is far from the first company to face scrutiny from the government over its ties to China. In 2020 smartphone maker Huawei was famously banned from sale in the U.S. by the Trump administration over fears of its devices being used as remote espionage devices.
More recently, the U.S. government probed Chinese electronics including consumer drones and smart cars over their potential to gather personal information and images for transmission back to Chinese authorities.
