Guangdong Lingdu Intelligent Technologies Development, a Chinese maker of cleaning robots for skyscrapers has cut ties with its US-based client as the tariff wars intensifies.
The cleaning robot making firm is now grappling with the effects of the trade disruptions as several other businesses, both Chinese and US are facing disruptions from US President Donald Trump’s trade policies.
Tariffs cut short Lingdu Intelligent’s US dreams
According to local media, Lingdu Intelligent signed a 12 million yuan ($1.6 million) with its first US client early this year as it successfully started making inroads into the Western market with its cleaning robots, reportedly with three times the efficiency of human cleaners.
Its Lingkong cleaning robot, which is now in its third generation has been on 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.
Making way into the US market was a milestone achievement, which was however short-lived. The deal with its US client was suspended following the imposition of trade tariffs by the Trump administration. Lingdu Intelligent chief operating officer Jackey Huang Jian told South China Morning Post (SCMP) that both companies are now “waiting for changes” in Trump’s tariff policies.
The US imposed tariffs of up to 145% on Chinese imports into the US this year.
So far there have been conflicting statements from both economies on trade talks. But Morgan Stanley economists said they expected both parties to negotiate to gradually reduce tariffs to 60% by the end of the second quarter.
Tariffs are biting firms from both the East and West
While the Chinese company laments the adverse impacts of the trade wars, it is not alone in this struggle. US firms are also feeling the heat from the trade policies. US firms are making estimates of the tariffs impact on their earnings, with many like Coca-cola, JetBlue, and UPS downgrading their earnings guidance.
Automakers are among the hardest hit with General Motors revealing that the Trump administration’s tariffs on imported cars will this year cost the company between $4 billion and $5 billion.
Nevertheless, Lingdu is holding on to over 20 markets that include Europe and Middle East leveraging on its robots’ efficiency.
According to the SCMP, the Lingkong machine moves on surfaces or facades using suction cups and wheels, handling curvatures in the surface of up to 5 millimeters, while its sewage filtration and recycling system allows it to work for half a day with eight liters of water with a battery that lasts three hours.
Lingdu said a single robot can clean up to 2,000 square meters of walls in a single day, which is three times what a human can achieve.
In 2014, the Communist Party newspaper People’s Daily reported that cleaning Zifeng Tower in Nanjung, the capital of eastern Jiangsu province, with its 110,000 square meter facade took six people about three months to complete.
Huang said the company also resumed efforts to build obstacle-crossing robots after it had been scrapped because it was too difficult mass produce.
However, Huang indicated that advancements in robotic joints over the past 10 years have made the product viable. The fourth generation of the Lingkong skyscraper cleaner, set for release this year is expected to operate on surfaces without significant obstacles, and better equipped to handle sand and wind.
The company expanded into solar panel cleaning with its Lingguang G2 model capable of cleaning 1,000 square meters of distributed photovoltaics per hour while the heavier Lingguang G1, designed to handle centralized power stations covering 4,800 square meters per hour.
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