Biden’s FTC Chair Just Handed China Another Win

For many years, the Chinese have been taking over our farmland, our schools, and our social media. It’s a cold war of sorts; through the use of TikTok, the Chinese-based video-sharing app, Left-wing propaganda has been disseminated throughout American culture, creating rifts and political clashes. That’s all by design, which is why it was alarming when Townhall reported about all the Chinese-owned schools in America.

Democrats don’t seem to think that’s a problem, however. They recently voted against ending Chinese influence in our pubic schools. But the stakes are high. China wants to be a global leader, and it can do that after undermining America. And not only did Democrats hand the communist nation a win last week, it turns out Biden’s FTC Chair laid the groundwork to hand China another victory.

iRobot, the company behind the Roomba robot vacuum, was forced to file for bankruptcy after a deal with Amazon was struck down by Biden’s FTC chair Lina Khan.

Started in 1990 by MIT students, it was at first focused on outer space and defense work before the Rooma vacuum launched in 2002. The company’s headquarters are in Bedford, MA, and it employs 274 people.

The company had raised concerns about staying in business as early as March of this year, but its financial problems have existed for a while. In 2023, iRobot took out a loan to refinance operations while European investigators stalled the Amazon buyout deal. Biden’s FTC also opposed the merger.

In 2024, Amazon and iRobot walked away from the merger agreement and the FTC issued a statement that read:

In response to the announcement that Amazon and iRobot have terminated their $1.4 billion merger agreement, Federal Trade Commission Associate Director for Merger Analysis Nathan Soderstrom issued the following statement:

“We are pleased that Amazon and iRobot have abandoned their proposed transaction. The Commission’s probe focused on Amazon’s ability and incentive to favor its own products and disfavor rivals’, and associated effects on innovation, entry barriers, and consumer privacy. The Commission’s investigation revealed significant concerns about the transaction’s potential competitive effects. The FTC will not hesitate to take action in enforcing the antitrust laws to ensure that competition remains robust. I would like to thank the Northeast Regional Office, which handled the investigation, and the entire FTC team, for their work on this matter.”

It’s likely the FTC worked with European counterparts to help scuttle the deal, as the European Commission also issued a statement saying it was in “close contact” with the FTC:

Robot vacuum cleaners are part of the ‘smart home’ revolution seeking to digitalise our homes and to make domestic life easier. Amazon already has some “smart home” devices such as the voice assistant Alexa or the smart doorbell Ring, and in 2022 it wanted to buy iRobot for approximately €1.56 billion.

We looked closely at the dual role of Amazon as platform operator and market participant, and the implications of Amazon merging with the owner of a very successful product for which Amazon is already an important sales channel. During our investigation, we have been in close contact with the US Federal Trade Commission.

Now, iRobot will be bought by China-based manufacturer Picea. According to Reuters, PIcea will “take 100 percent of the company’s equity and cancel the $190 million remaining on the 2023 loan, as well as an additional $74 million debt that iRobot owes to Picea under the companies’ manufacturing agreement.” 

Regulators in the United States & Europe blocked Amazon’s bid to acquire iRobot.

iRobot has not filed for bankruptcy and will be acquired by its main creditor, a Chinese company.

This is not a good outcome from the perspective of consumers, competition or the national interest.

— Jason Furman (@jasonfurman) December 15, 2025

Even Barack Obama’s Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers, Jason Furman took Lina Khan to task over the failed merger when author Matthew Stoller lied about the U.S. challenge to it.

Lina Khan took credit for Amazon and iRobot abandoning the transaction. https://t.co/9gqDueXqhM https://t.co/G2AU1iDvtt pic.twitter.com/s0ZfBtCBox

— Jason Furman (@jasonfurman) December 16, 2025

Furman also wrote on X, “One problem with antitrust thinking and enforcement is how little updating there is based on experience and evidence.”

And now yet another American company is swept up by China, thanks to the Democrats in the Biden administration, whose policies continue to cause harm almost a year after Biden left office.

Editor’s Note: The Democrat Party has never been less popular as voters reject its globalist agenda.

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