FCC widens import restrictions on foreign drones, routers and robot vacuums

The US Federal Communications Commission has extended its restrictions on foreign technology from telecom networks to everyday consumer devices, according to ongoing coverage by The Verge. Drones, Wi-Fi routers and robot vacuums are now among the product categories facing what the publication describes as de facto import bans.

From telecom gear to home gadgets

For more than a decade, US authorities have treated equipment from Chinese telecom suppliers Huawei and ZTE with suspicion and required network operators to remove it. Under the second Trump administration, that approach has been applied to whole categories of household products. It began in December 2025 with a ban on all future foreign drones unless their makers secured a waiver, and was followed by similar bans covering future foreign routers, robots, power inverters and robot vacuums.

The government says these devices pose an unacceptable risk to national security. The Verge reports that no public evidence of such a threat has been released, that devices already in use have not been addressed, and that the FCC has instead pointed to sealed Pentagon letters forwarded to 16 members of Congress.

Waivers granted unevenly

Exemptions have been handed out inconsistently. Netgear and Asus received blanket approvals for all their new routers, even though the FCC's paperwork asks applicants to commit to US manufacturing, and Asus would not confirm whether it had submitted such a plan. Taiwan's MSI won conditional approval for only two specific router models. TP-Link, which has launched its first Wi-Fi 8 routers but cannot sell them in the US, told the FCC it would invest nearly $1 billion to assemble routers domestically if granted an exemption.

Test labs and marketplaces targeted

The FCC has also decertified several Chinese test labs accused of submitting false results and plans to stop authorizing Chinese labs altogether from December 2028, with a vote scheduled for October 29. Separately, it is seeking comment on a proposal requiring online marketplaces to verify each device's FCC status before listing it, a plan Etsy wants its small sellers exempted from.

For people who follow computers and home networking, the restrictions could narrow the choice of new routers and connected devices in the US and affect when new standards such as Wi-Fi 8 reach store shelves. Buyers and online sellers may also need to pay closer attention to whether a product carries valid FCC authorization.