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Andrew Kang: US government regulatory environment (tariffs, FTC bans on Chinese robotics) will likely prevent foreign humanoid dominance, creating protected market for US companies
Andrew Kang· Mechanism Capital· Robotics· 2026-06-02· about US manufacturers vs. Chinese competitors
“Think about what are robots? Well, they're things that can see and hear everything in the world and they're filled with telecommunication devices. And so I have a hard time seeing the American government allowing robots from other nations be the dominant player in America. And there are certain bills that are trying to be passed right now... that are explicitly banning robots from certain countries, from at first being purchased by federally funded organizations... The reason why we didn't really have Chinese EVs in America is because Biden put 100% tax on Chinese EVs during his administration. And then two, the FTC also outlawed vehicles from certain countries that have software from those countries.”
Why it matters
Regulatory barriers similar to EVs and Huawei will likely prevent Chinese robotics dominance in US market. This creates structural protection for US humanoid startups and reduces competitive threat from cheaper Chinese alternatives.
Investment implication
US humanoid companies (Figure, Aptronic, Tesla) will have protected home market for 5-10 years, allowing margin expansion and cash generation for scale. Chinese companies will need to either license US AI or establish US manufacturing.