The Federal Communications Commission on Tuesday barred new imports of foreign-made humanoid robots, four-legged "robot dogs" and power inverters, adding the devices to a national-security register weeks before Chinese leader Xi Jinping's planned September visit to meet President Trump.
The action effectively targets China. Chinese firms control an estimated 85 percent of the global humanoid-robot market, and two of them—Unitree and AGIBOT—each shipped more than 5,000 units of the roughly 15,000 humanoids the industry moved worldwide in 2025, according to research group Omdia. Tesla and Figure AI, the leading American entrants, each shipped a few hundred or fewer.
What shifted
The FCC added the equipment to its Covered List, the register the agency uses to flag goods deemed a risk to U.S. critical infrastructure, and the ban applies only to new models; devices already authorized may still be sold. Chairman Brendan Carr said the commission was working "to secure America's critical supply chains." The agency warned that foreign-built robots could allow "malign actors to surveil Americans, enhance the capabilities of foreign intelligence services, or to remotely commandeer the robots," and that overseas inverters running solar farms and data centers could be turned off, tapped for data or exploited in a cyberattack.
The stakes
Morgan Stanley analysts forecast China's humanoid market alone could reach $15 billion by 2030. Samm Sacks, a senior fellow at the New America think tank focused on Chinese technology policy, called the FCC action part of "a steady drumbeat of potential flashpoints heading into (the) Trump-Xi summit planned for September."
Beijing responds
China's Foreign Ministry accused Washington of overstretching national security to suppress Chinese companies and said Beijing would take "all measures necessary" to defend its firms. "Protectionism does not make the U.S. more competitive, and it will only hurt the interests of U.S. companies and consumers," ministry spokesperson Mao Ning told reporters at a regular briefing Wednesday in Beijing. The Chinese embassy in Washington urged the U.S. to "abandon its hegemonic mindset, and stop smearing Chinese companies and threatening them with sanctions."
Counterpoint
Industry analysts warned that the near-term casualty may be American engineering rather than Chinese production. Nvidia in June unveiled a humanoid-robot reference design built on the chassis of Unitree—the same company the Pentagon has added to its list of firms with ties to the Chinese military—and Omdia analyst Lian Jye Su said the new rules could disrupt such cross-border collaborations. Morningstar analyst Kangyuxiao Li said locking Chinese firms out of the U.S. shields domestic developers from price competition but "will not materially slow China's overall humanoid development, given the size of its domestic manufacturing base and opportunities in other export markets."
Trump and Xi are scheduled to meet in September. Tariffs, rare earths and semiconductor export controls were already on the agenda; the FCC's list now joins them.