You might think it’s safe to assume your Wi-Fi router was made in China, but the US now imports a relatively small share of routers from the country, a new study finds.
Imports from China have essentially “collapsed” as most router production has migrated to Vietnam, Mexico, Thailand, and Taiwan, according to the Global Electronics Association, formerly the IPC.
The association—which spans 3,000 member companies in the IT industry—examined the potential impact of the FCC’s controversial ban on foreign-made consumer routers, since nearly all are made overseas. “Virtually no consumer router sold in the United States is manufactured domestically,” the group noted; the only exception appears to be SpaceX, which has a large facility in Texas churning out Starlink hardware.
The association examined US import data on network switching and routing equipment, which would cover both consumer and enterprise products; the FCC’s ban only covers the consumer category. The numbers show that in 2019, China came in second with a 24.4% share of imports by unit, while Mexico was number one with a 25.1% share.
(Credit: Global Electronics Association)
But since then, router imports have shifted away from China, likely because of tariffs during the first Trump administration. In 2025, only about 4% of router imports by unit came from China. Vietnam was actually number one with a whopping 47% share, while Mexico came in second with a 12.7% share.
“Chinese-origin imports accounted for just 1.1% of the total US router import value in 2025, despite widespread assumptions to the contrary,” the association added. (That said, it’s possible some foreign-made routers used components from Chinese suppliers.)
(Credit: Global Electronics Association)
The FCC’s ban on foreign-made routers follows longstanding concerns about Chinese manufacturing secretly compromising Wi-Fi products. But the actual order doesn’t explicitly call the Chinese supply chain a threat. Rather, it points to hackers, including Chinese state-sponsored groups, exploiting vulnerable foreign-made routers to fuel their attacks.
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After toying with bans on specific companies, like TP-Link, the White House decided to go after all foreign manufacturing of Wi-Fi routers, effectively pushing the entire industry to migrate the supply chain to the US.
“The Global Electronics Association estimates over 100 million consumer routers are in active use across the United States. The FCC’s action affects the replacement cycle for every one of these devices,” the report says.
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The problem is that it’ll take years for the industry to move router manufacturing to the US, which would require “a domestic supplier network for the hundreds of discrete components that go into a modern router,” the association says. Otherwise, companies would have to import the components from foreign markets, defeating the FCC’s policy.
To prevent disruption, the FCC has created a “Conditional Approval” process that can exempt Wi-Fi router vendors from the ban, which applies only to new router models. Netgear and Adtran, both US companies, were the first to secure the exemption on Tuesday. But for now, the reprieve only gives the vendors 18 months to secure FCC authorization for their new products.
In the meantime, the Global Electronics Association fears the FCC’s order and exemption process will slow the arrival and development of Wi-Fi gear.
“Chipset vendors and OEMs [original equipment manufacturers] operating on global product roadmaps may begin to deprioritize the US market for initial product launches if the certification pathway becomes materially slower or less predictable than equivalent processes in Europe and Asia, a dynamic that would leave US consumers with fewer choices and later access to meaningful performance improvements,” the report adds.
About Our Expert
Michael Kan
Principal Reporter
Experience
I’ve been a journalist for over 15 years. I got my start as a schools and cities reporter in Kansas City and joined PCMag in 2017, where I cover satellite internet services, cybersecurity, PC hardware, and more. I’m currently based in San Francisco, but previously spent over five years in China, covering the country’s technology sector.
Since 2020, I’ve covered the launch and explosive growth of SpaceX’s Starlink satellite internet service, writing 600+ stories on availability and feature launches, but also the regulatory battles over the expansion of satellite constellations, fights with rival providers like AST SpaceMobile and Amazon, and the effort to expand into satellite-based mobile service. I’ve combed through FCC filings for the latest news and driven to remote corners of California to test Starlink’s cellular service.
I also cover cyber threats, from ransomware gangs to the emergence of AI-based malware. In 2024 and 2025, the FTC forced Avast to pay consumers $16.5 million for secretly harvesting and selling their personal information to third-party clients, as revealed in my joint investigation with Motherboard.
I also cover the PC graphics card market. Pandemic-era shortages led me to camp out in front of a Best Buy to get an RTX 3000. I’m now following how the AI-driven memory shortage is impacting the entire consumer electronics market. I’m always eager to learn more, so please jump in the comments with feedback and send me tips.
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