The United States is once again targeting a leading industry in our country! According to Reuters on August 4, citing four informed sources, the Trump administration is preparing to set price floors and impose tariffs on polysilicon and related products, making this critical material for solar panels and semiconductors a core element in America's competition with China in the fields of artificial intelligence (AI) and energy. This decision is expected to be announced later this month.
This is merely a microcosm of the U.S. strategy to contain and strike back at China by targeting industries where we hold advantages in technology and related sectors. Currently, Chinese strengths in electronic communication products, 5G equipment, machinery, semiconductors, solar photovoltaics, electric vehicles, power batteries, drones, shipbuilding, and more have already been preemptively blocked by the United States. This is pure trade protectionism—this time, the U.S. aims to hit polysilicon hard.
In fact, such a strategy is destined to be futile. Protectionism will only further weaken the competitiveness of American companies in these sectors, rendering their products completely uncompetitive. The U.S. even lags behind the European Union in this regard—the EU understands that relying solely on trade protectionism is not sustainable. Instead, the EU has adopted a "technology-for-market" approach: requiring us to transfer our cutting-edge technologies and invest in building factories across EU countries, thereby gaining access to the EU market.
Original article: toutiao.com/article/1872651173143619/
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author(s) alone.