The Trump administration moved Tuesday to halt imports of advanced robots and a type of power equipment commonly used in solar projects, the latest step in the campaign to root out Chinese security threats embedded in America’s technology supply chains.
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The Federal Communications Commission announced the restrictions, extending a push that has already targeted foreign-made drones and wireless routers. The new rule covers mobile robots, including humanoid and quadruped models, along with power inverters used to connect solar energy systems to the electric grid, equipment increasingly common as green energy mandates spread across the country.
The action reflects two defining priorities of Trump’s second term: countering China’s ambitions in artificial intelligence and pushing back against Beijing’s dominance of the clean energy supply chain that the administration argues has left the United States dangerously dependent on an adversarial power.
“Following President Trump’s leadership, the FCC will continue to do our part to secure America’s critical supply chains and, with today’s action, the FCC is acting in lock step with our national security agencies to do just that,” FCC Chairman Brendan Carr said in a statement.
A Trump administration interagency group concluded that the technology poses a genuine risk to national supply chains and could open the door to cybersecurity vulnerabilities in critical U.S. infrastructure, including the potential to trigger widespread power blackouts or give foreign actors a foothold for spying on Americans. The FCC updated its list of covered equipment to reflect those findings, a designation that blocks new authorization of the devices and halts their use inside the United States.
The restriction applies only to new models going forward. It will not affect equipment already in use, will not stop retailers from selling previously authorized devices already on shelves, and will not touch the federal government’s own purchasing or use of the technology. Manufacturers can still seek a waiver, following a process the administration has already used for drones and routers, by applying through the FCC for conditional approval from the Pentagon and the Department of Homeland Security.
In documents laying out its reasoning, the FCC warned that foreign-made robotics carry serious hidden dangers. “The networked capabilities of advanced robotic systems create extensive vulnerabilities and vectors for attacks that can manipulate the data and physical operation of the advanced robotic system,” one determination said. “Relying on foreign-produced advanced robotic devices presents unacceptable supply chain and cybersecurity vulnerabilities… Advanced robotic devices collect data that could be leveraged by malign actors to surveil Americans, enhance the capabilities of foreign intelligence services, or to remotely commandeer the robots.”
The new block adds to a list of actions by the administration to wall off Chinese technology from American infrastructure, part of a sustained effort to close vulnerabilities that officials say adversaries have exploited for years while Washington looked the other way.
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