US robot curbs lay bare industry’s dependence on Chinese parts

The US FCC's new robot import restrictions highlight a significant challenge for American robotics: an entrenched reliance on Chinese components. This policy, intended to reshore production and diversify supply chains, faces practical hurdles given China's dominance in critical parts like actuators, batteries, and LiDAR. For example, actuators alone can represent 40-60% of a robot's hardware bill of materials, making the 65% domestic content target by 2028 difficult to achieve. This situation creates uncertainty for Asian robotics suppliers and manufacturers. While Chinese parts are not individually banned, the cumulative effect of these restrictions could shift demand for certain components. The lack of transparency regarding exemption processes also raises questions about whether Chinese robotics companies will have any genuine route to conditional approval, or if the process will favor allied nations. This could prompt some Asian manufacturers to explore diversification strategies or increased localization within other markets to mitigate future risks. Our view is that this policy will disproportionately affect US research labs and startups, which often rely on more affordable imported robots. The Association for Advancing Automation found that 28 out of 31 US university-led research papers on humanoid or quadruped robots used products from Chinese startup Unitree Robotics. This suggests that the cost of development and availability of components for these entities will increase, potentially slowing innovation in the short term.