China’s leading manufacturer of specialised cleaning robots for skyscrapers and solar panels is grappling with the suspension of its first deal with a US-based client over increased tariffs on Chinese products, as businesses face disruptions from US President Donald Trump’s trade policies. Guangdong Lingdu Intelligent Technology Development, which sells its robots under the brand X-Human, signed a contract worth 12 million yuan (US$1.6 million) with its first US customer earlier this year. However, the customer suspended the deal after the US imposed additional tariffs, Lingdu chief operating officer Jackey Huang Jian said in an interview with the South China Morning Post. Both parties are now “waiting for changes” in Trump’s tariff policies, Huang said. Washington has imposed tariffs totalling 145 per cent on Chinese imports so far this year. Despite conflicting statements from China and the US regarding trade talks, Morgan Stanley economists expected both sides to negotiate to gradually reduce tariffs to 60 per cent by the end of the second quarter. Nevertheless, Lingdu’s products are now available in more than 20 markets, including Europe and the Middle East. Its flagship Lingkong robot, now in its third generation, has climbed the walls of the 103-storey Guangzhou International Finance Centre, the 56-storey Jumeirah Emirates Towers Hotel in Dubai, and Hong Kong’s 35-storey Kowloon Commerce Centre. The machine moves on surfaces or facades using suction cups and wheels, and it can handle curvatures in the surface of up to 5 millimetres. Its sewage filtration and recycling system allows it to work for half a day with just 8 litres of water, while a single battery lasts three hours. It operates while attached to a safety rope to prevent it from falling to the ground. The company said that one robot can clean up to 2,000 square metres of walls per day, three times the efficiency of human cleaners. The Communist Party newspaper People’s Daily reported in 2014 that cleaning the Zifeng Tower in Nanjing, capital of eastern Jiangsu province, with its 110,000-square-metre facade, took six people three months to complete. Founded in 2016, Lingdu Intelligent had no products ready for commercial launch until 2023. The first prototype, which could cross obstacles on building facades, was scrapped because it was too difficult to mass-produce, Huang said. The company has since resumed efforts to build obstacle-crossing robots, with a product launch scheduled for this year. Huang noted that advancements in robotic joints over the past decade have made the product viable. The fourth generation of the Lingkong skyscraper cleaner, which must operate on surfaces without significant obstacles, is also set to be released this year. It would be better equipped to handle sand and wind, and its sewage filtration system would be more powerful, Huang said. Lingdu Intelligent expanded into solar panel cleaning in 2023. The lighter Lingguang G2 model can clean 1,000 square metres of distributed photovoltaics per hour, while the heavier Lingguang G1, designed to handle centralised power stations, can cover 4,800 square metres per hour. Huang said that Lingdu Intelligent, originally located in Xiamen in southern Fujian province, moved to Guangzhou in 2021 because the manufacturing hub’s robotics supply chain, talent and business environment were more conducive to the company’s efforts to produce robots and expand overseas. Lingdu is currently conducting a Series A+ funding round, targeting a valuation of 350 million yuan, Huang said. Current shareholders include Science City (Guangzhou) Investment Group and Huangpu Institute of Materials, both backed by the Guangdong provincial government.