China threatens countermeasures over the US ban on humanoid robot imports

China's commerce ministry said in a statement on Thursday, 30 July 2026 (8 Mordad 1405) that the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has repeatedly ignored Beijing's restrained stance on product bans, and that the pattern "severely damages China-US economic and trade stability." The ministry urged Washington to withdraw the decision and threatened countermeasures if it did not.

The FCC said on Tuesday, 28 July 2026 (6 Mordad 1405) that, because of cybersecurity concerns, it had added foreign-made advanced robotic devices, including humanoids, to a list restricting imports into the United States. That statement did not name any country and said retailers could still import models the FCC had previously approved.

Marc Einstein, a research director at Counterpoint Research, said the decision is bad news for Chinese humanoid producers planning share offerings in the coming months, adding that China's two major cards are further restricting rare earth sales to American companies and further restricting market access for firms such as Tesla and Nvidia. Shares in Hong Kong-listed UBTech briefly fell more than 6 percent in Thursday morning trading. The friction comes as Donald Trump is scheduled to host Xi Jinping in September.