The Trump administration is banning the import of new foreign-made humanoid robots, robot dogs, and power inverters, citing an “unacceptable” threat to national security. The move largely affects imports from China, which currently has the vast majority of the global market share.
The U.S. Federal Communications Commission announced the ban on Tuesday, saying that devices made overseas could be remotely controlled or used for surveillance by foreign governments, or otherwise used in cyberattacks.
The FCC said that exceptions would be granted if the government finds that a device does not pose a risk to U.S. national security.
The U.S. government has long accused China of hacking into U.S. businesses to steal data, and preparing to launch future cyberattacks for its own military gains, such as an anticipated invasion of Taiwan. But the U.S. has also long warned that the risk of Chinese ownership alone could allow Beijing to force a company to spy on Americans or remotely tamper with their products. The U.S. government has similar legal powers.
Humanoid robots, the class of robots that move similarly to humans, are far from mainstream and are still in early development. There have been around 15,000 humanoid robots shipped worldwide in 2025, with each of China’s two largest robot makers accounting for the majority of those shipments.
