Following the Trump administration’s move last month to block the sale of advanced industrial robots from all countries outside of the United States, experts are mixed on the outcome but ultimately supportive of what this could mean from a supply standpoint.
The Federal Communications Commission on July 28 updated its covered list to include imports of mobile robots, such as humanoids and quadrupeds, as well as connected power inverters, citing national security risks.
Products meeting those definitions can no longer receive FCC equipment authorization and cannot be imported, marketed or sold in the U.S., making them essentially banned. Affected companies can apply for a conditional approval.
The sweeping action, which immediately took effect, came amid growing concern over China’s ability to surveil customers and obtain sensitive data around the world from devices assembled in the country. However, it also looks to address another issue entirely — the U.S. falling behind globally in terms of robot production and deployment.
“Domestically, we need help,” Robert Little, a business development advisor and former chief of robotics strategy at Novanta, said.
At first glance, Little said he thought the move was necessary for cybersecurity reasons. But after looking at the FCC’s similar action regarding drones and drone parts, he said the recent ban was also a mechanism to drive domestic production of humanoids and mobile robots, as well as incentive for foreign suppliers to build their supply chains in the U.S.
“That’s its ultimate purpose,” Little said. “And I think it can be effective.”
The U.S. is considered one of the global robotics leaders when it comes to investor capital, fueled by surging interest in AI, foundation model research and robotics systems. U.S.-headquartered companies such as Figure AI, Agility Robotics and Tesla received 52% of the $9.4 billion in global venture capital deployed last year, according to the Robotics Center of Silicon Valley.
However, there is a widening gap between the number of robots manufactured by U.S. companies versus Chinese competitors. China installed 295,000 robots in 2024, representing more than half of the world’s market share, according to the International Federation of Robotics. While preliminary 2025 numbers have not been released yet for China, the group estimated that installations are about ten times higher than the U.S.
In other words, the “U.S. leads the world in where robotics is heading…while losing the race on where robotics is shipping today,” the Robotics Center of Silicon Valley said in its 2026 report.
To address the issue, the Association for Advancing Automation has urged Congress to consider adopting a national robotics strategy that includes subsidies, tax incentives and other means to drive domestic adoption and production of U.S. robots.
The FCC’s move, which only applies to new products, creates a runway for domestic companies to become more competitive, Little said. Then if the restrictions are lifted in the next few years, “they’ll be in a much better place.”
Erik Nieves, founder and CEO of Plus One Robotics, said he knew the Trump administration would put restrictions on China’s robots but was surprised by the breadth of the FCC’s ban. Rather than just targeting China, the move affected robotics from all other countries, including trade partners such as Japan, Germany and South Korea.
“We would have preferred to see it be more circumspect, but you don’t control what the government does,” Nieves said. “If it’s true that every action is an overreaction, that’s what this is.”
He also pointed out that the impact of the ban depends on the complexity of the conditional approval from the U.S. Department of Defense. Nieves said the details are unclear about the exemption process, adding that if it’s more than just a simple check, then the U.S. could be “excessively hampering partners that we really would not rather do that to.”
Some say the ban doesn’t go far enough. In a recent LinkedIn post, Standard Bots CEO Evan Beard said that fixed industrial robot arms should be part of the FCC’s covered list because, similar to mobile robots, they have a networked, sensing, actuated system and raise security risks.
“If you can’t trust the components, you can’t trust the robot,” he wrote. Standard Bots, based in Glen Cove, New York, claims to be the largest AI-native industrial robot manufacturer in the U.S., with a focus on robotic arms.
The FCC’s update is expected to have little impact on the manufacturing industry’s digital transformation goals. Little said the markets for humanoids and quadrupeds are still very young, and most U.S. manufacturers know the risk of purchasing products from China.
Last year, security researchers flagged an apparent “back door” on Unitree Robotics’ Go1 robot dog. More recently, cybersecurity firm Vulncheck found that at least 20 Zbtlink router models had a hidden way for unauthorized users to access the systems.
Autonomous mobile robots, known as AMRs, are a different story. These robots are widely used in warehouses to move objects from one place to another. U.S. companies are using AMRs from China and Europe, in part because it’s cheaper to buy them from abroad, Little said.
The AMR market will see some disruption, he said. But the ban only impacts new products from other companies, not mobile robots currently in place with FCC licenses.
“They can continue to sell the old model while they maybe open up a manufacturing center in the U.S.,” Little said. But if they see “it’s not worth it, they’ll just continue to sell the old model and the [U.S.] won’t have access to the new model.”
Whether the current administration expands its restrictions on robotics made in other countries remains to be seen. Earlier this month, China tightened its exports on drones to the U.S. and sanctioned multiple U.S. companies in retaliation to the FCC’s update.
Nieves said he wouldn’t be surprised if the Trump administration directed more appropriations and funding to bolster the domestic robotics supply chain. Meanwhile, legislation targeting a ban on all robots from China is gaining traction in the next National Defense Authorization Act.
“If there’s security implications, you have to take them seriously,” Nieves said about the FCC’s update. “And if getting a robot from China puts us at risk somehow, then maybe we don’t need to do that. But I would not want to see a situation where any domestic industry got to relax because they didn’t have to worry about innovation coming from Germany, Japan, South Korea or anywhere else.”
