The US is trying to do to TP-Link what they did to Huawei. Even though, as the article mentions, TP-Link devices have a US-based supply chain and are manufactured in Vietnam. This is literally just the US not allowing China to own any value-added consuming facing products in the US.
I’m not convinced either way. But do you know how much notoriety would come out of proving a massive malware campaign in a major, worldwide brand!? I have a hard time believing the talented, security-minded people checking these devices out have all missed something, every single time. It would take one proven example to tank the entire brand and then it’s not even a viable malware distributor, much less profitable…