The FCC Reaches Deeper into the Grid – and the Warehouse

On July 27, 2026, an executive-branch interagency body issued two National Security Determinations (“NSDs”) under Section 2 of the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Act, 47 U.S.C. § 1601, concluding that foreign-produced power inverters and foreign-produced advanced robotic devices each pose an unacceptable risk to U.S. national security. The next day, the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) issued Public Notice DA 26-786 adding both categories to its Covered List, and the Office of Engineering and Technology (“OET”) issued a companion Public Notice, DA 26-789, granting a blanket waiver of the Class I and Class II permissive change prohibitions for software and firmware updates to previously authorized devices.

This is the third category-wide, place-of-production Covered List addition in eight months (previously it was uncrewed aircraft systems and consumer routers), and it coincides with the FCC’s July 22, 2026, Third Report and Order and Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (“FNPRM”) in ET Docket No. 21-232 – the “inside the box” item discussed in our prior alert. Read together, the FCC’s supply chain security posture now extends from the factory floor to the components inside the device, to the online cart, and now to two of the most connectivity-dense product categories at the edge of the U.S. grid and the U.S. warehouse.

Manufacturers, importers, distributors, electronic product code contractors, and utility procurement teams should evaluate their compliance posture now. New authorizations are already barred, and every remaining pathway runs on a 60- to 90-day clock.

1. What Is Now Covered

Foreign-produced power inverters. The listing reaches any bi-directional DC-to-AC (and AC-to-DC) power device or system, e.g., microinverters, string inverters, central inverters, and hybrid (battery-based) inverters, that also contains components enabling remote communication, control, sensing, data collection, or monitoring through Wi-Fi, cellular, Bluetooth, or “other similar” connections. Both prongs must be satisfied.

The connectivity prong is broad: the NSD names Wi-Fi, cellular, and Bluetooth as examples and reaches ‘other similar connections’ capable of remote communication, control, sensing, data collection, or monitoring. A truly stand-alone inverter with no remote communication capability is outside the definition; a device that supports remote functions over wired Ethernet, cellular-modem-over-Ethernet, or industrial protocols such as Modbus TCP or DNP3 should be treated as within scope until the Department of War or the Department of Homeland Security says otherwise. A connectivity-enabled inverter is covered whenever it is foreign-produced, “regardless of the nationality of the producer.”

Foreign-produced advanced robotic devices. The robotics listing focuses on mechanical mobile devices, including autonomous mobile robots, humanoid robots, and quadrupeds, that (i) are capable of ground locomotion, obstacle avoidance, navigation, or movement on the ground; (ii) operate at a distance from a human operator based on commands or sensor data; (iii) have a combined weight (device plus any ground station or docking station) of more than 4.4 pounds; and (iv) contain a sensor capable of perceiving its environment, wired or wireless connectivity of at least 200 kbps in either direction, and software (including firmware and AI or machine-learning model weights) that controls the device. Six express exclusions apply. The most important are connected vehicles (governed by the Commerce Department’s ICTS rules, “but including a connected vehicle of any gross weight”), UAS (already covered under the December 2025 listing), Section 513 medical devices under 21 U.S.C. § 360c, and fixed industrial or medical robot arms. Robotic vacuums, humanoid delivery robots, security-patrol quadrupeds, and warehouse mobile robots that satisfy the four prongs are within scope. Connected lawn mowers and robotic pool cleaners should be presumed within scope; the ‘connected vehicle’ exclusion (limited by 15 CFR § 791.301 to on-road vehicles) and the unmanned-underwater-vehicle exclusion (undefined in the NSD) leave meaningful room for a class-specific determination request.

2. “Foreign-Produced” Now Means “Not a Domestic End Product”

For the first time in a Covered List addition, “foreign-produced” is defined by cross-reference to the Federal Acquisition Regulation: “any article that does not qualify as a ‘domestic end product,’” as defined at 48 C.F.R. § 25.101(a). Under that standard, a product is a “domestic end product” only if it is manufactured in the United States and the cost of its domestic components exceeds a threshold percentage of the cost of all components – currently 65% through 2028, stepping up to 75% on January 1, 2029.

Two consequences follow, and they apply equally to both categories:

• Place of production controls, not producer nationality. A U.S.-headquartered company that produces devices offshore is subject to the rule. A foreign-headquartered company that produces a domestic end product is not. The inverter NSD adds the phrase “regardless of the nationality of the producer” twice; the robotics NSD does not. The operative reach is identical, but the drafting difference matters for anyone considering a class-based challenge on behalf of a U.S.-owned, foreign-producing manufacturer.
• The bar is a moving target. A product that qualifies today may not qualify on January 1, 2029. Any FAR analysis should be run against both thresholds. The FNPRM proposes to extend this same definition across all Covered List entries.

3. Effects Are Immediate – With One Important Carve-Out

Effective July 28, 2026, no covered inverter or covered advanced robotic device can receive a new FCC equipment authorization, and no such device without an existing authorization can lawfully be imported, marketed, or sold in the United States. There is no phase-in, no grace period, and no de minimis exception. The January 1, 2028, date in the Annex A guidance is the deadline to apply for a Conditional Approval, not a delay of the prohibition.

Devices authorized on or before July 28, 2026, may continue to be produced, imported, marketed, sold, and operated. The FCC retains authority to revoke or limit prior authorizations for Covered List equipment – and has done so with respect to Huawei equipment and certain military-grade drones. Continuation in commerce is the state of play today; it is not a permanent safe harbor.

To avoid stranding installed fleets, OET issued a blanket waiver covering both categories: Class I and Class II software and firmware permissive changes – including updates that “patch vulnerabilities” and “facilitate compatibility with different operating systems” – are permitted through at least January 1, 2029, subject to extension. Hardware permissive changes remain prohibited, absent a separate, product- or class-specific waiver request.

4. Three Compliance Pathways

• The cleanest exit. Bring production to the United States such that the device satisfies the 48 C.F.R. § 25.101(a) domestic end product test – with the moving threshold in mind.
• File for a Conditional Approval. Both Annexes require a submission by January 1, 2028, containing (i) a device description; (ii) an assessment identifying foreign-produced components, production locations, sole-source suppliers by country, and contingency plans; and (iii) a detailed, time-bound U.S. manufacturing and onshoring plan with committed capital expenditures, dedicated points of contact, and quarterly status updates.
• Seek a class-specific determination or an individual Section 1.925 waiver. Each NSD preserves the responsible agency’s authority to determine that a “given” device or “class” of devices does not present unacceptable risks. It is the narrowest path, best suited where a producer can show that its product line is materially different from the risk profile the determination describes.

5. Why These Two Categories, and Why Now

Both determinations invoke the 2025 National Security Strategy and America’s AI Action Plan. The inverter NSD additionally rests on Executive Order 14262, “Strengthening the Reliability and Security of the United States Electric Grid.” The robotics NSD does not cite EO 14262; it instead leads with the AI Action Plan’s identification of robotics as a next-generation defense technology and documented military use cases for Unmanned Ground Vehicles and quadrupeds – autonomous breaching, resupply, force protection, and offensive strikes.

The robotics record also raises a distinct concern, namely that certain foreign legal regimes affirmatively prohibit entities from disclosing cybersecurity vulnerabilities to customers, increasing the risk that foreign governments will exploit those vulnerabilities to manipulate or exfiltrate data. Sourced to analysis of the People’s Republic of China’s vulnerability-disclosure regulations, that concern is not cured by an onshoring plan and will bear on the durability of any Conditional Approval for a producer domiciled in such a jurisdiction. Read alongside CFIUS and Team Telecom mitigation, the Commerce Department’s ICTS Program, and DOJ’s Data Security Program, it is likely that the Trump Administration will continue to rely on class-based Covered List additions as the vehicle for addressing cybersecurity concerns.

6. Four Practical Takeaways and Deadlines

• Inventory the product line now. For inverters, identify each SKU with bi-directional DC-to-AC conversion and qualifying wireless connectivity. For robots, screen against the four inclusion prongs and the six express exclusions. Flag anything requiring FCC equipment authorization on or after July 28, 2026.
• Run the FAR analysis against both thresholds. Model 65%-through-2028 and 75%-from-2029.
• Start the Conditional Approval workstream. The January 1, 2028, window is nominally eighteen months, but building a credible, capital-committed U.S. manufacturing plan with defined milestones takes longer than most clients expect.
• Watch the docket. The FNPRM proposes to codify “foreign-produced” and extend it to products, services, and entities on the Covered List.

The reach of the FCC’s equipment authorization program continues to expand – from the box, to the components inside it, to the shopping cart, and now to the inverter on the substation pad and the robot on the warehouse floor. Companies operating in either sector should review product lines and compliance workflows to determine whether a Conditional Approval filing may be necessary.