Texas Sues Tech Giant TP-Link Over Chinese Ties
▼ Summary
– Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is suing TP-Link, alleging the router-maker misleads customers by masking its ties to China and posing a security risk.
– The lawsuit claims TP-Link markets products as “Made in Vietnam” but sources nearly all components from China, maintaining its supply chain there.
– TP-Link, founded in China, has attempted to distance itself by establishing a Vietnam factory and moving its global headquarters to the US.
– The company’s Chinese connections have drawn scrutiny, including a Federal Trade Commission investigation and a prior Texas probe over consumer protection violations.
– This lawsuit is part of Texas’s broader crackdown, as Paxton also sued drone company Anzu Robotics for similar misleading claims about its Chinese-made products.
The state of Texas has initiated legal action against the global networking equipment manufacturer TP-Link, alleging the company is actively concealing its substantial connections to China and posing a potential national security risk. Attorney General Ken Paxton filed the lawsuit this week, contending that TP-Link serves as “an open window for Chinese-sponsored threat actors and Chinese intelligence agencies” by misleading consumers about where and how its products are made. This case represents a significant escalation in the ongoing scrutiny of tech supply chains and corporate transparency.
While TP-Link was originally founded in China, the company has taken visible steps in recent years to establish an international presence. It opened a manufacturing plant in Vietnam in 2018 and, more recently, centralized its global headquarters in the United States under the name TP-Link Systems. Despite these moves, the Texas lawsuit asserts that the company’s operational heart remains firmly in China. Paxton’s complaint argues that TP-Link sources “nearly all” of its components from Chinese suppliers, making the “Made in Vietnam” label on its final products a misleading representation of its true origins and dependencies.
The legal filing states, “The reality is that TP-Link continues to operate its supply-chain deep inside of China, with China’s support, and through Chinese exports.” It further dismisses the assembly work done in Vietnam as mere “final touches” that do not rectify what Texas characterizes as a deliberate deception regarding the company’s affiliations. This alleged misrepresentation forms the core of the consumer protection violation claims, as customers may believe they are purchasing a product with a more secure, non-Chinese supply chain.
TP-Link’s corporate structure has been under increasing examination by U.S. authorities. The Trump administration previously scrutinized the company, leading to a reported Federal Trade Commission investigation. Texas itself opened a probe into the matter in October. The state’s lawsuit combines these national security concerns with consumer rights, alleging TP-Link falsely markets its routers as “secure” despite documented vulnerabilities, all while obscuring its fundamental ties to Beijing.
This lawsuit against TP-Link is not an isolated action. It fits into a broader pattern of legal challenges by the Texas Attorney General’s office targeting companies with Chinese links. On the same day, Paxton filed a separate suit against Anzu Robotics, a drone company based in Texas. That complaint alleges Anzu is selling “rebranded” drones manufactured by the Chinese firm DJI, which was recently banned by the Federal Communications Commission from importing new drones into the U.S. Paxton accuses Anzu of misleading customers about the origin, data handling, and security risks of its products. Together, these cases highlight a concerted state-level effort to enforce transparency and address perceived security threats within the technology sector.
(Source: The Verge)
