U.S. Bans Import and Sale of New Foreign-Made Consumer Routers

The U.S. Executive Branch has banned the import, marketing, and sale of new foreign-made consumer routers, citing supply chain vulnerabilities and severe cybersecurity risks to critical infrastructure and national defense. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will require foreign manufacturers to seek approval, disclosing foreign investors and outlining plans to relocate production to the U.S. Exemptions may be granted by the Department of Defense or Department of Homeland Security, though no specific routers have been approved yet. Existing routers are unaffected, but new devices from brands like Netgear—manufactured abroad—will face restrictions. Starlink’s WiFi router, produced domestically by SpaceX, is noted as an exception. The policy aims to shift router manufacturing to the U.S., though costs are expected to rise.