Asus won’t say how it escaped the US router ban

What happened

This spring, the United States banned all future foreign-made consumer routers - effectively all future routers - unless their makers could 1) convince the US government that they weren't a national security threat, and 2) submit "a detailed, time-bound plan to establish or expand manufacturing in the United States." But Asus has not publicly announced any plan to bring manufacturing to the US. ASUS is an electronics company based in Taipei.

It would not even confirm to The Verge whether it had submitted a US manufacturing plan. As of September 9th, Asus now has an exemption from the ban, just in time to bring its first early Wi-Fi 8 routers here.

Key facts

• But Asus has not publicly — announced: any plan to bring manufacturing to the US