China vehemently denounced a United States ban on new foreign-made humanoid robot imports, labeling the move another escalation in trade tensions and a threat to the stability of global industrial supply chains.
According to The New York Times, China's Commerce Ministry said that it would "resolutely retaliate to safeguard its legitimate rights and interests" if the U.S. continues with the import ban. China went on to describe the ban as "discriminatory and suppressive," given the country's status as the world's leading producer of advanced humanoid robotics components.
In its initial announcement of the ban on July 29, the Federal Communications Commission pointed to "unacceptable risks" to America's national security posed by foreign humanoid robot imports. The ban also includes new imports of quadruped robots, as well as power inverters used in data centers and solar panels.
Although the FCC cited concerns that foreign-made humanoid robots could be used as backdoors to hack into computer systems containing sensitive government data, China accused the U.S. of "overstretching the concept of national security." The FCC had previously used a similar justification to prohibit imports from Chinese telecommunications providers.
As The New York Times points out, Chinese-made components are found in the vast majority of humanoid robots on the market today. China also manufactures and installs factory robots at a higher rate than any other country, while its EV factories have been among the first to deploy humanoid robots to perform simple tasks.
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