China threatens retaliation against US humanoid robot ban

China has threatened countermeasures against the United States after the Federal Communications Commission restricted imports of foreign-made humanoid robots, with Beijing's commerce ministry warning the move "severely damages" bilateral economic relations.

According to the FCC, on Tuesday, it would add imported robots, including humanoids, to a list of US banned imports for reasons of cybersecurity threats. 

However, the ban does not specify which country is under the ban, but retailers can continue importing those products the agency has previously approved.

On Thursday, China's commerce ministry reported that the FCC had persistently been ignoring the restrained position of Beijing on banning products and called for Washington to reverse the move, or else face repercussions.

According to Marc Einstein, the research director at Counterpoint Research, it is quite unfortunate timing for Chinese humanoid makers who are set to launch their IPO in the coming months.

Beijing's best countermove, according to him, would be restricting rare earth exports from China to US firms and limiting market access to US corporations like Tesla and Nvidia in China.

Counterpoint data shows Chinese firms Agibot, Unitree and UBTech held the top three spots by humanoid installation market share last year, with Tesla's Optimus ranking fifth.

Hong Kong-listed UBTech shares briefly fell more than 6% in Thursday morning trading following the ministry's statement, while Unitree and Agibot have both filed to go public.

The Commerce Department's announcement comes just weeks ahead of a meeting between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping scheduled for September.

Rising tensions on the technology front have been witnessed since Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent hinted that the US would be able to sanction China for stealing their artificial intelligence models. In fact, President Donald Trump was a bit more careful about his thoughts on restrictions on AI, which he expressed on Thursday.

Robostore, a distributor of Chinese humanoid robots in North America, claims that it has been preparing itself for such changes as it has increased its capacity in the US, according to the CEO of Robostore, Teddy Haggerty.