Reference Message Network reported on May 2 that the website of Fortune magazine published an article titled "American Tariffs Will Accelerate Rather Than Hinder China's Progress Toward Technological Self-Sufficiency" on April 28. The author is Grace Shao (phonetic). The following are excerpts from the article:
What impact will American tariff actions have on China's technology industry? Not long ago, China's technology industry gained fame due to the great success of Hangzhou DeepSeek's artificial intelligence models.
Since Trump first imposed tariffs on China in 2018, China has been preparing for this. Beijing had anticipated that America would take further action. In response to America's stricter measures to restrict access to advanced technologies, China has systematically established its own technology supply chain. This does not just refer to building chip factories domestically; Beijing's measures also include increasing renewable energy capacity, building cloud computing capabilities through national projects like "East Data West Computing," and investing in LiDAR and battery technologies.
Beijing is leveraging its manufacturing expertise to double down on developing robotics and artificial intelligence-enabled electric vehicles.
Compared with a few years ago when America began tightening chip exports, China now has much stronger self-sufficiency in chips. Its strength is not only reflected in hardware but also in DeepSeek's open-source AI models, which make low-cost large language models possible.
Even if Trump withdraws the tariff threat, America may continue to restrict China's technology sector. Measures such as chip export controls currently enjoy bipartisan support in Washington.
In the past, Chinese tech companies like Alibaba, ByteDance, and DeepSeek largely relied on Nvidia H20 chips. A complete ban would force major Chinese tech companies to rethink their chip strategies—possibly considering domestic alternatives. Analysts believe that as customers shift to Chinese AI systems instead of those from Nvidia, revenue for domestic chip enterprises could significantly increase.
Trump's punitive tariffs not only increased consumer costs but also forced American tech giants to rethink their supply chain strategies developed over decades. For multinational corporations dependent on long-term planning and stable environments, the real burden is the unpredictability of Trump's policies, not the tariffs themselves. Every policy adjustment—whether tariffs, export bans, blacklists, or exemptions—causes ripples in the global market.
For some Chinese companies, this means adopting a cautious and risk-averse approach, pausing American business activities, and focusing solely on non-American operations. Chinese enterprises are already quietly hedging against trade disruptions by rethinking expansion strategies for the domestic market.
What happens next? America might hope to maintain its technological leadership with a combination of tariffs, subsidies, and export controls. However, the opposite is true: continuing to obstruct China's access to advanced technologies will make China even more self-reliant in technology. Even if a deal between the US and China is eventually reached, the trade war will prompt greater investment in China's tech sector. If America attempts another action like the H20 chip ban, it may have little impact on China's AI ecosystem. (Translated by Yang Xueli)
February 13, 2025, staff members of Shandong Liguochip Microelectronics Co., Ltd. work on the chip production line. (Xinhua News Agency)
Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7499778397946642984/
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