Tariffs weren’t part of the planned discussions at this week’s Robotics Summit, where thousands of people from the tech industry gathered to see different types of robots and talk about building and selling a new group of more self-operating machines.
At least, tariffs weren’t part of the official discussions.
“Jump up to the microphones,” said keynote speaker Aaron Saunders, chief technology officer of Boston Dynamics, encouraging the packed audience to ask him questions. “And I’m the CTO, so don’t ask me about tariffs.”
The crowd laughed and followed his request. But once they moved onto the show floor at Boston’s convention center, where they were welcomed by a robot made by the Chinese company Unitree, it was difficult to ignore the impact of President Donald Trump’s wide-reaching tariffs and China’s responses to them.
Tariffs are “the No. 1 topic that we’re discussing in the hallways and at the water cooler with people that I’ve known for a long time,” said Steve Crowe, the organizer of the annual Robotics Summit & Expo. “I think it’s definitely top of mind, because there’s so much uncertainty about what is going to come.”
This concern is tied to how robots are built—with motors and actuators to move their limbs, computers to run their AI, and sensors to help them understand what’s happening around them. Items like sensors, computer chips, batteries, and rare earth magnets are some of the most affected parts in global trade conflicts.
Last week, Tesla CEO and Trump adviser Elon Musk told investors that China’s new rules blocking exports of rare earth magnets would delay Tesla’s progress on its Optimus humanoid robots.
Casper van Eersel, center, a representative of IMSystems, a Netherlands-based company which makes robot components, talks with convention guests at the Robotics Summit & ExpoAt the summit on Wednesday and Thursday, some robot makers saw a possible benefit to these changes, as American companies began looking more at local suppliers and working on robots built in the U.S. to help in factories and warehouses.
“It’s added some inconveniences to our own supply chain. But it’s also opened up opportunities,” said Pras Velagapudi, chief technology officer at Agility Robotics in Oregon. The company has started using its humanoid robot, called Digit, at a U.S. plant run by German company Schaeffler, which makes ball bearings and other key parts for the car industry.
Al Makke, a director of engineering at Schaeffler’s chassis systems, said tariffs might lead many businesses to move production to the U.S.
“And if that does happen, then local companies have to deal with high labor costs and a shortage of labor and so automation gets pushed further,” Makke said. “And one of those faces of automation is humanoids.”
Most of the large industrial robots used in the U.S. are involved in car manufacturing and are brought in from places like Japan, Germany, or South Korea.
Car companies in the U.S. used 9.6% more robots in their factories than they did a year earlier, according to new data from the International Federation of Robotics, a trade group.
Right now, humanoid robots are still a small part of the market, but they attract a lot of attention, partly because of science fiction. Saunders, from Boston Dynamics (owned by Hyundai), gave an update on their Atlas humanoid robot on Wednesday. However, he didn’t bring a working model and instead showed the company’s more familiar four-legged Spot robots kept in a pen on the show floor.
One humanoid robot at the conference was the G1, made by Unitree. It costs $16,000 and was controlled by a nearby employee. It smoothly shook hands, waved at people, and walked around, but it’s not ready to carry boxes or work in a factory yet.
Most of its buyers outside of China are university researchers and some people on social media. But Trump’s tariffs on China—currently at 145%—would raise the price for U.S. buyers to about $40,000, said Tony Yang, a Unitree vice president who handles sales in North America. Still, Unitree’s plan to quickly improve its hardware and software is a long-term one.
A human-like Unitree robot is surrounded by convention guests while passing out company brochures at the Robotics Summit & Expo“It’s still a very narrow market, but I think there’s still a huge potential market on the industry side, like for manufacturing and factory and even home use,” Yang said.
At a full pickleball court set up on the show floor, some visitors took a break to play while a robot on wheels threw balls at them. When asked what parts make up the Tennibot robot, its creator brought up tariffs again.
“Injection molded parts, rivets, screws, nuts, wheels, motors, batteries,” said Haitham Eletrabi, co-founder and CEO of Tennibot, which is based in Auburn, Alabama. “The supply chain gets very complex. We get parts from all over the world. Tariffs are adding a lot of uncertainty.”
It wasn’t just the U.S.-China trade conflict that some attendees were concerned about. Francesca Torsiello, from the recruiting company Adapt Talent, said she’s hearing more caution from Canadian robotics and engineering professionals when it comes to working in the U.S. due to current political tensions.
“In the past, people in Canada found it attractive to come and work for U.S. companies; right now they’re being very hesitant,” Torsiello said.
