Join the Club: Foreign Power Inverters and Advanced Robotic Devices Are Latest Categorical Prohibitions Added to FCC’s Rapidly Expanding Covered List

The Covered List initially targeted communications and surveillance products and services tied to named entities in China or Russia. Over the past year, the FCC has shifted toward categorical, entity-neutral prohibitions: foreign-produced unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) and UAS critical components (December 2025), foreign-produced commercial routers (March 2026), and now foreign-produced power inverters and advanced robotics devices. These prohibitions are broad and apply to all non-U.S.-manufactured devices in the category; for the three newer categories, the only exemption is a Conditional Approval from the Department of War (DoW) or Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

For purposes of the Covered List, “foreign produced” refers to any article that would not qualify as a “domestic end product” under the Buy American Act regulations.

Equipment Authorization Consequences and Limited Waiver
The addition of foreign-produced power inverters and advanced robotic devices to the Covered List has immediate consequences under the FCC’s equipment authorization rules. Once added to the Covered List, equipment may no longer receive new or modified FCC equipment authorizations absent Conditional Approval. These restrictions are prospective and do not revoke equipment authorizations granted before July 28, 2026.

Concurrent with the Public Notice, the FCC issued a limited waiver permitting certain Class I and Class II permissive changes to previously authorized power inverters and advanced robotic devices. This waiver enables such authorized equipment to continue to receive software and firmware updates that mitigate harm to U.S. consumers until January 1, 2029, consistent with the limited waivers previously granted for foreign-produced UAS, UAS critical components, and commercial routers.

Which Power Inverters Are Covered?
The first National Security Determination on foreign-produced power inverters defines a “power inverter” as:

• A bi-directional power device or system that converts direct current electricity to alternating current electricity, or converts alternating current electricity to direct current electricity, to include microinverters, string inverters, central inverters, and hybrid (battery-based) inverters; and
• Contains components that enable remote communication, control, sensing, data-collection, or monitoring through Wi-Fi, cellular, Bluetooth, or other similar connections.

As a categorical inclusion to the Covered List, such devices are prohibited from receiving equipment authorizations on a going-forward basis if produced in a foreign country, regardless of the nationality of the producer, unless granted a Conditional Approval by DoW or DHS.

Which Advanced Robotic Devices Are Covered?
The second National Security Determination defines “advanced robotic devices” broadly to include mechanical mobile devices—such as autonomous mobile robots (AMRs), humanoid robots, quadruped robots, and similar ground-based robotic platforms—that:

• Are capable of locomotion, navigation, obstacle avoidance, or autonomous movement on the ground;
• Operate remotely or autonomously based on commands, sensor data, or a combination of both;
• Have a combined weight of more than 4.4 pounds, including any associated ground or docking station; and
• Contain all the following:

-  An environmental sensor capable of perceiving its surroundings;

-  A wired or wireless network connectivity component (including Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, cellular, or satellite) capable of connection speeds of at least 200 kbps in either direction; and

-  Software, including firmware or AI/machine learning model weights, that controls autonomous navigation, movement, perception, data collection, or remote command-and-control.

Notably, this definition excludes several categories of equipment, such as:

• Connected vehicles, including passenger vehicles, commercial vehicles, and heavy-duty vehicles of any gross vehicle weight;
• Rail vehicles that operate exclusively on rail lines;
• Uncrewed aircraft (UAS) and uncrewed aircraft systems, as defined by the FCC;
• Unmanned underwater vehicles capable of operating without a human occupant;
• FDA-regulated medical devices, including surgical instruments, medical and surgical robotic systems, external limb prostheses and their components, and ambulatory or mobility assistive devices (e.g., canes, crutches, walkers, and wheelchairs), whether powered or unpowered; and
• Fixed, stationary, non-mobile robots, including articulated, parallel/delta, Cartesian/gantry, and Selective Compliance Assembly Robot Arm (SCARA) robots intended for industrial or medical use.

Note, however, that while these products are excluded from the “advanced robotic device” definition, they may nevertheless be subject to other Covered List restrictions. For example, foreign-produced UAS and UAS critical components remain separately covered under the FCC’s December 2025 Covered List expansion. For all other devices coming under the “advanced robotic device” definition, their inclusion on the Covered List means that these devices are prohibited from receiving equipment authorizations on a going-forward basis if produced in a foreign country, regardless of the nationality of the producer, unless granted a Conditional Approval by DoW.

Conditional Approval
The Public Notice also reaffirms the FCC’s recently established Conditional Approval process, which provides the sole pathway for foreign-produced advanced robotic devices and power inverters to be exempted from the applicable Covered List restrictions. Under this framework, manufacturers may request an individualized determination that a particular product, or class of products, does not pose an unacceptable risk to U.S. national security.

For power inverters, Conditional Approvals may be granted by either DoW or DHS. For advanced robotic devices, Conditional Approvals are issued by DoW. If the relevant agency determines that a device or class of devices does not present an unacceptable national security risk, the FCC will update the Covered List to exempt the approved products.

Key Insights
Manufacturing location, supply chain composition, and FCC regulatory strategy have become increasingly intertwined. Companies seeking to import or market RF-emitting devices in the United States should regularly evaluate whether such equipment falls within the scope of the FCC’s rapidly evolving Covered List and, if so, whether pursuing a Conditional Approval or restructuring manufacturing operations is necessary to maintain lawful access to the U.S. market.

This newest addition to the Covered List should also be viewed alongside the FCC’s July 21, 2026, proposal to prohibit the continued importation and marketing of previously authorized foreign-produced military-grade UAS and UAS critical components. Together, these developments confirm the Commission is not only continuing to expand the Covered List’s categorical, location-based prohibitions but is also willing to revisit and restrict previously issued equipment authorizations where national security concerns evolve.

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For more information about the Public Notice, Conditional Approvals, or the Covered List generally, please contact the authors.