GoKawiilThe Federal Communications Commission yesterday announced it will no longer approve consumer-grade routers made outside of the US, citing a President Trump directive on reducing the use of foreign technology for national security reasons. The action will prevent foreign-made routers from being imported into or sold in the US.
Routers already approved for sale in the US can continue to be sold, and consumers can keep using any router they’ve previously obtained, the FCC said. But the FCC will not approve new device models made at least partly outside the US unless the Department of Defense or Department of Homeland Security determines that the router does not pose national security risks.
The prohibition applies to both US and foreign companies that produce routers outside the US. Foreign production includes “any major stage of the process through which the device is made, including manufacturing, assembly, design, and development.”
“This action means that new models of foreign-produced routers will no longer be eligible for marketing or sale in the US,” FCC Chairman Brendan Carr wrote on X. “The determination included an exemption for routers that the Department of War (DoW) or the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) have granted ‘Conditional Approval’ after finding that such device or devices do not pose such unacceptable risks.”
Router makers seeking conditional approvals must submit, among other things, a “justification on why any foreign manufactured router is not currently manufactured in the United States, including why these foreign sources were selected and whether alternatives exist,” and a “detailed, time-bound plan to establish or expand manufacturing in the United States.”
The FCC said it acted after receiving a national security determination from an interagency group of security experts. “Recently, malicious state and non-state sponsored cyber attackers have increasingly leveraged the vulnerabilities in small and home office routers produced abroad to carry out direct attacks against American civilians in their homes,” the determination said.