China Slams US Ban on Foreign-Made Robots, Threatens to Retaliate
The Chinese government is threatening to retaliate against the US for banningforeign-made advanced robots and power inverterssince China is a significant supplier of both. “If the US persists in this action,. . .
The Chinese government is threatening to retaliate against the US for banningforeign-made advanced robots and power inverterssince China is a significant supplier of both. “If the US persists in this action, then China will take resolute countermeasures to safeguard our legitimate rights and interests,” a spokesperson for China’s Ministry of Commercesaidon Thursday, translated from Chinese. The FCC's ban, prompted by two "National Security Determinations" from the White House, doesn’t explicitly target China but rather all non-US suppliers, citing the threat that foreign-made robotics and power inverters could be weaponized to disrupt or spy on the US. Still, China’s Ministry of Commerce argues that the "non-discriminatory" ban is really about suppressing Chinese industries and products. The country is best known for manufacturing low-cost electronics, and humanoid robots made in Chinaaccountfor 85% of the market, according to Barclays Research. At a press conference, the Ministry of Commerce also noted that the FCC has been escalating its restrictive measures; it announced similar bans on foreign-madedronesandWi-Fi routersin recent months. The actions have been "severely harming China’s legitimate trade interests, seriously damaging China-US stable relations in trade, and seriously disrupting the global industrial supply chains. China firmly opposes this,” the spokesperson said. The ministry also claimed the US’s policy will “harm others without benefiting itself,” while alleging the White House has been engaging in bullying. The US and China have engaged in an on-and-off trade war, mainly over President Trump’s tariffs. Inresponseto China's threat of retaliation, the agency highlighted statements from US lawmakers, companies, and industry groups that support the ban on foreign-made robots and power inverters. The Alliance for American Manufacturing, for example, says, "it makes no sense to depend on a foreign adversary for the technology that permeates our lives and our nation’s security. " Evan Beard, the CEO of Standard Bots, a US company focused on robot arms,added: “This is one of the strongest technology-security actions in modern US history. The message is unambiguous: robotics is a technology America must lead and own—and foreign-subsidized robots will not be allowed to unfairly dominate US robotics as they did solar. ”Not everyone supports the FCC's move, however. The Consumer Technology Association (CTA), which represents the top tech companies, criticized the policy as misguided. “CTA supports efforts to protect our national security and strengthen technology supply chains. But those policies should be targeted, transparent, and focused on genuine security risks, not unnecessary costs or supply chain disruption,” the associationtweeted. There's also beenconcernthat the ban could slow the adoption of solar energy, since power inverters are a keycomponentof solar panels. In 2020, only 7% of inverter shipments to the US came from domestic suppliers, with the majority sourced from Europe, Japan, and China,accordingto the Department of Energy. However, the US ban only covers future advanced robot models and power inverters, not those that have received FCC equipment authorization and are on sale in the US. Still, the FCC confirmed that theban also covers robot vacuums, an industrydominatedby Chinese companies.