The United States is intensifying efforts to block Chinese-made advanced robots from American factories and ports, driven by fears of espionage, cyberattacks, and strategic dependency — a move analysts say is as consequential as earlier restrictions on TikTok and Huawei, according to a report in Eurasia Review. The emerging contest, the report argues, is less about manufacturing volume and more about who controls the machines, supply chains, and standards linking artificial intelligence to real-world infrastructure.

The FCC's Covered List and What It Signals

The US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has placed Chinese advanced robotic platforms on its 'Covered' List, citing risks of surveillance, cyberattack, supply-chain disruption, and remote compromise. The designation effectively restricts federal procurement and signals to private industry the government's posture on these systems.

According to the Eurasia Review analysis authored by Collins Chong Yew Keat, the concern is structural: "The fear is that these will give strategic advantage to adversaries, just like what a Trojan horse could do. All these change the security equation, similar to the threats of cyber warfare and the calculations regarding TikTok and Huawei in the past."

The Scale Gap Between the US and China

The numbers reveal a striking asymmetry. In 2024, China produced approximately 300,000 industrial robots, while the US installed roughly 34,000. While America maintains an edge in AI models, semiconductors, and cloud infrastructure, China leads decisively in manufacturing plants and deployed machines on the ground.

This gap is at the heart of Washington's anxiety. Notably, reported vulnerabilities in Chinese robotic platforms have, according to the article, validated and strengthened security concerns that critics had previously dismissed as overstated.

Washington's Strategy: Denial Before Dependency

The US approach is being characterised as strategic denial — cutting off access before deep integration makes removal politically and economically untenable. The Eurasia Review report draws a sharp lesson from past experience: "The United States has learned an uncomfortable lesson, that dependency is easiest to prevent before it becomes dependency. Once foreign technology has deeply integrated into national infrastructure, jettisoning it will be expensive and politically difficult."

This comes amid broader US efforts to decouple critical technology infrastructure from Chinese suppliers, a policy trajectory that has accelerated since the semiconductor export controls of 2022 and subsequent restrictions on advanced AI hardware.

Building a US-Allied Robotics Ecosystem

The restrictions are only one half of Washington's twin-track approach. The broader objective, the report states, is "to deny Chinese platforms the space to dominate America's robotic and AI infrastructure, while building a competitive US-and-allied embodied and supported AI ecosystem of its own."

Both Washington and Beijing are acutely aware of the stakes. The contest over robots is increasingly seen as a proxy for control over the next generation of AI-physical systems — from autonomous logistics to defence manufacturing — that will define industrial and military capability through the coming decade.

Whether US restrictions will be sufficient to close the deployment gap, or whether allied nations will coalesce around a common robotic supply chain standard, remains an open question as the technology race accelerates.