Washington, June 4 (IANS) A bipartisan group of US lawmakers introduced legislation that could ban Chinese-made robots from the American market, the latest move in Washington’s widening effort to restrict Chinese technologies viewed as potential national security threats.
The proposed Guarding the US Against Adversarial Robotics Dominance (GUARD) Act would require federal agencies to review humanoid and quadruped robots manufactured in China and other US-designated foreign adversaries. Robots deemed to pose unacceptable security risks would be barred from entering the United States. Products not reviewed within a year would automatically face restrictions.
The measure was introduced by Congresswoman Jennifer McClellan, House Select Committee on China Chairman John Moolenaar, and Congressman Jay Obernolte.
“As China, Russia, Iran and North Korea devise new ways to undermine our safety and well-being in our own homes, we must remain vigilant to potential national security risks that harm, manipulate or exploit our most vulnerable, especially children,” McClellan said.
“We must keep communications equipment and services that pose a threat to our country out of our households, offices and shared spaces,” she added.
The legislation directs US national security agencies to assess whether foreign-made robotic systems could be exploited for espionage, data collection or other activities harmful to American interests. Products identified as threats would be placed on the Federal Communications Commission’s Covered List, effectively prohibiting their use in the United States.
Moolenaar argued that Chinese robotics companies pose both security and economic challenges for the United States.
“Robots made by China are a threat to national security, critical infrastructure, and American workers. They contain backdoors that can be hijacked for espionage, and our legislation will stop these threats now before China can embed them throughout America,” he said.
Moolenaar also accused Chinese firms of benefiting from state subsidies and maintaining links to China’s military-industrial ecosystem.
“Fueled by generous state subsidies, Unitree and other Chinese robotics companies are cheating against American robot makers, flooding the market with artificially cheap products, possibly bankrupting our companies, and leaving us dependent on China,” he said.
“These firms are also closely connected with the Chinese military, and they use their revenue to develop weaponised robots.”
Obernolte said the United States must ensure that the technologies underpinning advanced robotics remain secure as their role in industry and daily life expands.
“As robotics becomes more deeply integrated into our economy, we must ensure that the communications equipment and services powering these systems are secure, trusted, and not subject to exploitation by foreign adversaries,” he said.
“The GUARD Act is a commonsense step towards protecting our national security, supporting American robotics companies, and ensuring the United States leads in the next generation of trusted robotics technology.”
Supporters of the legislation compared the proposal to previous US actions targeting Chinese telecommunications equipment and drone manufacturers, arguing that advanced robots capable of autonomous movement, environmental sensing and data collection could create new vulnerabilities if deployed at scale.
–IANS
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