A resurgent and revitalized manufacturing sector is imperative to create millions of well-paying, high-quality jobs for Americans while strengthening our economy and providing greater long-term stability. Ironically, to get there, the U.S. needs plenty of industrial robots, the vast majority of which are manufactured overseas.
Industrial robots perform numerous complex tasks efficiently, including welding, painting, assembly, and “palletizing,” putting stuff on pallets. They are being used at manufacturing sites around the world, especially in China, in all major industries. According to the International Federation of Robotics (IFR), the leading industries for robot installations in 2024 were electronics (24 percent), automotive (23 percent), and metal and machinery (16 percent).
Against this backdrop, the U.S. Department of Commerce has opened a public docket to gauge potential tariffs on foreign robotics. It is setting off alarms among U.S. manufacturers and others.
“Simply put, robotics and industrial machinery make all other manufacturing possible,” said the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) in public comments on the Commerce Department docket. It adds, robotics “drives productivity gains and innovation across the entire manufacturing base, including manufacturing for defense applications.”
Today, though 80 percent of robots bought in the U.S. are manufactured abroad, according to NAM. The U.S. does not even have the manufacturing capacity to produce all its robotics needs. As such, “Tariffs would raise near-term costs without addressing these underlying capacity constraints,” says NAM.
The Consumer Technology Association, in its public comments for the docket, said, “Robotics and industrial machinery are horizontal technologies that drive productivity across industries, including manufacturing, mobility, agriculture, energy, logistics, and healthcare. These technologies are essential to U.S. efforts to strengthen our industrial base.”
According to IFR, Japan is the leading manufacturer of robots, accounting for 38 percent market share. However, China is the biggest consumer, and the U.S. is far behind.
In a Sept. 25 report, IFR found, “China is by far the largest market. More than every other robot (54 percent) installed worldwide ended up in China.”
IFR also found that China installed nearly ten times as many robots in 2024 as the United States, 295,045 versus 34,164. In fact, the mighty United States accounted for just six percent of robot installations in 2024.
China has strategically ramped up its robot manufacturing sector. While exports are part of the reason for this, the most important reason is to ensure domestic demand will be met, as the use of robotics is projected to grow strongly worldwide.
As such, the often-made argument that foreign companies will cut their prices if tariffs are imposed to gain access to the U.S. market does not pass muster. Robotics manufacturers globally have many other markets beyond the U.S. And many countries, besides China, are providing direct and indirect government subsidies to accelerate the use of robotics.
Given this, the U.S. should look to expand on the U.S.-Japan Technology Prosperity Deal, announced on Oct. 28 in conjunction with President Donald Trump’s recent trip to Asia. The U.S. should cut red tape so that there can be joint ventures between U.S. and Japanese companies, with robots manufactured here in the U.S. A similar agreement should be pursued with Germany, another major manufacturer of industrial robots.
Otherwise, by imposing tariffs on essential components of U.S. manufacturing, the U.S. will impose a drag on, and perhaps derail, the anticipated manufacturing renaissance.