Published on: 2026-08-25
Source: People’s Republic of China — Translation
An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.
The American publication Bloomberg published an article on August 7 stating that the recent US increase in tariffs on imports of polysilicon and solar equipment is supposedly aimed against China, but in reality does not harm China. The reason is simple: since 2022, the US has practically stopped direct imports of polysilicon from China, so the tariff increase has no effect on non-existent trade. On the contrary, the real damage will be suffered by companies from Germany, the Republic of Korea, as well as American manufacturers who require stable supplies of raw materials for solar energy to maintain their own production of photovoltaic modules.
The article notes that this is a typical counterproductive case of trade protection. Since 2012, the United States has imposed trade restrictions to support the local solar industry, but the effect has been the opposite: American solar panel production has practically ceased. Moreover, restrictions on the import of metallurgical-grade silicon from Norway, Australia, Iceland, Malaysia, and other countries force American polysilicon producers to purchase raw materials at inflated prices.
Why has solar energy not developed in the US? According to the author of the article, the reason lies in the shift of priorities by American companies: they switched to the more profitable production of chips. This was facilitated by a number of factors: unfavorable government policy in the field of “green” energy, additional costs that international competitors do not have, as well as a sharp increase in global demand for AI chips. As a result, polysilicon producers preferred to manufacture microchips rather than solar panels.
China dominates the production of polysilicon for solar energy not through subsidies, but thanks to the scale of production, which is supported by stable and predictable demand. In contrast, the inconsistent US energy transition policy does not provide businesses with the necessary stability. As emphasized in the article, a predictable political environment is more important for the survival of enterprises than raising tariffs.
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