The US and China don’t have the best relationship at the moment. We’ve seen how the US government has made efforts to ban or limit Chinese tech in the country, and now it looks like that ban is extending further. According to a report from Reuters, the US is now banning robots from China.
US banning robots from China
The FCC confirmed this in an announcement on its website, where they said that the US government is banning robot imports from China, or to use their phrasing specifically, “foreign countries.” However, seeing as China has made huge strides in robotics, it’s not hard to figure out who this ban is specifically targeting, even if the FCC says it isn’t targeting a specific country.
According to the ban, this covers mobile robots, like humanoid robots and quadruped models. However, this does not impact robots that were previously approved for sale and are still on sale in the US. Companies that managed to get their devices approved by the FCC can continue selling them. This only applies to new models.
Also, what’s interesting is that according to the FCC’s announcement, the federal government can still buy and use foreign robots. Unsurprisingly, the Chinese government isn’t too thrilled by this ban. According to the Chinese embassy in Washington, it called on the US government to “stop smearing Chinese companies and threatening them with sanctions.”
Not the first robotics ban
We should point out that this isn’t the first time the FCC has banned robots from China. Back in December 2025, new DJI products were banned from being imported and sold in the US. While not necessarily the humanoid robots we think of, drones are still effectively a type of robot. The only difference now is that the FCC’s latest announcement is broader.
It is also believed that the FCC will probably exempt non-Chinese suppliers. This is according to Reuters’ sources, but there is precedent. The FCC had also previously banned foreign drones and routers, but unsurprisingly, non-Chinese companies managed to apply for exemptions.
It will be interesting to see how Chinese robotics companies fare following this ban. Unitree, a China-based robotics company, holds some of the largest global market shares. So, the US ban has the potential to hit it hard.
The post The US Just Banned New Robots from China, Including Humanoid and Quadruped Models appeared first on Android Headlines.
