The storm brought about by some western countries on the Xinjiang cotton has not completely subsided, the U.S. burned the war all the way to China’s PV industry.
Recently, several members of the U.S. Senate proposed Exclude China from the Solar Energy Act, which specifically includes banning U.S. federal funds from purchasing solar panels produced or assembled in China, and requiring the U.S. government audit office to report the number of solar panels purchased by federal government departments. It also requires an independent investigation of the global supply chain and the composition of labor.
The western superpower’s focus on energy industry may be related to the zero carbon game among big countries.
In his book, Bill Gates mentioned that “zero carbon gestates huge economic opportunity, countries that have established great ‘zero carbon’ enterprises and industries will lead the global economy in the coming decades.”
Perhaps governments, like the former richest man, have seen this trend in the future. In short, all major countries are striving to develop and support zero carbon industries in recent years.
But how to solve the zero carbon problem? There is a general consensus around the world – energy is the key to breaking the situation. Observing the big moves of Europe and the U.S. in energy industry in recent years, traditional energy giants, such as BP and Shell, are actively cooperating with the EU to achieve the goal of “net zero carbon emission” in 2050.
Competition is bound to friction, which between China and the U.S. in the field of clean energy has never stopped. Soon after taking office, Biden issued the infrastructure plan, which has attracted much attention. It specifically mentioned the competition with China, including the plan for new energy.
The current administration proposes that the U.S. will achieve the goal of 100% carbon free electricity by 2035, compared with about 40% by 2020.
Unfortunately, China is indispensable for the U.S. to achieve this goal.
China has manufacturing advantages in the whole industry chain, with silicon materials and silicon wafers ranking first in the global market. McKinsey’s research report revealed that China’s photovoltaic industry is far stronger than that of the U.S..
Today, China’s photovoltaic industry, which was once constrained by the west, stays at the top of manufacturing, installation capacity and power generation capacity.
Foreign media reported that the U.S. is now almost entirely dependent on low-cost solar cell modules provided by Chinese manufacturers. At the same time, China supplies more than 80% of the world’s polysilicon, about half of which comes from Xinjiang. In 2019, less than 5% of the world’s polysilicon comes from US companies.
How is it going to end if U.S. tries to make it hard for China’s photovoltaic industry? Think about the cotton issue happened before, did it really affect China’s cotton industry and even the whole textile and garment industry?
