Maybe this was inevitable. Maybe not.

“Amazon stands to gain access to extremely intimate facts about our most private spaces that are not available through other means, or to other competitors,” leftwing groups wrote to the Biden FTC. They omitted that iRobot’s main competitors were Chinese companies, which were fast stealing market share. Beijing wants to dominate robotics.

In January 2024, Amazon and iRobot called off the deal amid opposition from Ms. Khan’s FTC and Europe’s antitrust regulators. The Biden FTC issued a statement saying it was “pleased.” Amazon CEO Andy Jassy quipped that regulators trusted Chinese firms “more than they do Amazon.” Less pleased are the U.S. workers who subsequently lost their jobs.

After the deal collapsed, iRobot said it would cut 31% of its workforce and send overseas “non-core engineering functions to lower-cost regions.” Even then, the Bedford, Mass.-based company continued to struggle against Chinese competitors. Amazon’s backing might have helped it innovate into new robotics fields that Chinese firms hadn’t penetrated.

Mr. Trump’s tariffs may have been the fatal punishment. The company had shifted production to Vietnam to minimize its trade exposure to China. It was smacked all the same by Mr. Trump’s 46% Liberation Day tariffs on Vietnam. Mr. Trump later cut the tariffs to 20% in a deal with Vietnam, but iRobot said the trade uncertainty made it hard to operate.

The ironic culmination to the story: iRobot will now be taken over by its Chinese contract manufacturer Picea, which also makes competing household devices. By scuttling the Amazon acquisition, antitrust regulators have strengthened Chinese robotic competitors and driven jobs overseas. Will Ms. Khan and Ms. Warren take a bow? Probably not.