China promised to take “necessary measures” to defend the interests of its companies and accused Washington of protectionism a day after the United States banned the import of foreign-made humanoid robots, quadrupeds and power inverters.
“China consistently and firmly opposes the US practice of excessively expanding the concept of national security to combat Chinese companies. Protectionism will not increase US competitiveness; it will only harm the interests of American companies and consumers”, said, this Wednesday (29), the spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mao Ning, at a press conference in Beijing.
The ban was announced on Tuesday (28) by the US Federal Communications Commission (CFC), a telecommunications regulatory body. CFC president Brendan Carr said, according to APthat the objective is to “protect critical American supply chains”, alleging cybersecurity risks associated with advanced foreign-made robots. The veto covers new models.
China dominates the robotics sector, accounting for more than 80% of humanoid robots in operation in the world, according to consultancy Counterpoint Research, and for around 70% of global sales of quadruped robots, according to data from the country’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (Miti).
Of the approximately 13,000 humanoid units sold worldwide in 2025, Agibot shipped more than 5,100, according to Omdia, and Unitree more than 5,500, according to a statement from the company itself in January 2026. The American companies Tesla and Figure AI sold a few hundred or less in the same period, also according to Omdia. The bank Morgan Stanley projects that the Chinese market for the sector could reach US$15 billion (R$76.8 billion) by 2030.
Quadruped robots, also included in the ban, are machines used in industrial inspection, rescue operations and surveillance. Power inverters convert direct current into alternating current and are central components in solar energy systems, data centers and household appliances. China is the main international supplier of both products.
Restrictions on partnerships
The ban may also affect partnerships between companies from both countries. In June, Nvidia revealed a humanoid robot reference design based on the Unitree chassis. With the ban on imports, collaborations of this type are subject to restrictions. The Pentagon has included Unitree on a list of companies it says have ties to the Chinese military; Beijing, in turn, rejected the accusation.
Unitree was cited this same Wednesday by the National Intellectual Property Administration of China (Anpi) as an example of a company whose patents for humanoid robots went through the pre-analysis system of the national intellectual property protection centers, a mechanism created to speed up registration in strategic sectors.
The measure comes shortly before Xi Jinping’s possible visit to the USA, scheduled for September.
The robots add to a growing list of US bans on the Chinese technology sector: imports of DJI drones have already been banned and the government is studying controls on the use of open source artificial intelligence models developed in China, in addition to restrictions on chip exports to China.
Source: www.brasildefato.com.br
