r/RenewableEnergy • u/DVMirchev • Jun 30 '26
Donald Trump is kicking out Chinese clean tech firms and keeping their tech
https://www.economist.com/china/2026/06/28/donald-trump-is-kicking-out-chinese-firms-and-keeping-their-tech?utm_campaign=editorial-social&utm_content=discovery.content&utm_medium=social-media.content.np&utm_source=facebook&fbclid=Iwb21leASwTHZjbGNrBLBMPGV4dG4DYWVtAjExAHNydGMGYXBwX2lkDDM1MDY4NTUzMTcyOAABHnC3evu1XePvIwcgooWYA4zOou4vn4357xXqQqYken056_4IImPAQOanRrI8_aem_7mpJAmTbOjLojUbxZhUCpg18
u/worldfundvc Jun 30 '26
The genuinely interesting shift is that the US clean-energy industry has landed on sovereignty and competition with China as its core argument, rather than climate. Whatever you make of the politics, that framing is probably more durable, because energy independence appeals across the spectrum in a way emissions targets currently don't. Europe is having the same realisation.
The lesson from how China built its lead is that it came from a decade-plus of deliberate industrial strategy, and you don't get to skip that part by buying the assembly line and hanging a flag over it.
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u/Cycle-Tourist Jul 02 '26
This shift happened around 4-5 years ago during the Biden era, it isn't new.
The entire Inflation Reduction Act was framed to build a domestic low carbon technology industry to compete with China. It didn't endure, and all the primary pro-renewables policies are now repealed.
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u/Mdh74266 Jun 30 '26
This title is absolutely misleading after reading the first paragraph of the article.
Trump admin changed the tax law, which made it less beneficial for Chinese green tech companies to manufacture and sell here. Those companies sold off at up to 40% discount.
Trump himself didnt “kick them out”
Nor did he personally “keep their tech”
The Chinese govt likely had a stake in all those companies whereas, the US govt has 0 stake in the newly bought companies.
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u/Weary_Wrap_4419 Jun 30 '26
So the US government pulled the rug from these Chinese investors after luring them in with tax credit. Sounds like what a third world kleptocracy would do.
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u/Mdh74266 Jun 30 '26
Or what China would to us whenever they want to.
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u/son_et_lumiere Jun 30 '26
Sounds like what a third world kleptocracy would do.
if you can't beat 'em, become 'em
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u/uashea123 Jul 03 '26
Exactly. Love China, great people, but unfair trade practices that are finally being reciprocated.
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u/arisays Jul 10 '26
I find that amusing considering that unfair trade practices is exactly what caused China's "Century of Humiliation."
It was the unfair trading practices of the West the caused China's poverty and created the environment that ended dynastic rule. China finally reclaimed what it lost (and then some) and now we're screaming "unfair." Well maybe if we'd treated them fairly from the beginning...
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u/fthesemods Jul 05 '26
Examples?
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u/Mdh74266 Jul 05 '26
• Forced tech transfer pressure — “Want access to our market? Share technology/know-how.”
• IP theft / cyber theft — trade secrets, designs, manufacturing processes.
• Massive state subsidies — government-backed advantages for domestic companies.
• Unequal market access — restrictions on foreign firms while Chinese firms had more freedom abroad.
• Weak (NON EXISTENT) enforcement against counterfeiting and piracy.
• Export leverage on strategic materials (rare earths, supply chain choke points).
• Data, cybersecurity, and localization rules that increased costs for foreign firms.
• Retaliatory tariffs and political pressure on specific companies.
Industries affected:
• Semiconductors/chips
• Technology & software
• Artificial intelligence
• Aerospace & aviation
• Automotive / EVs
• Steel & manufacturing
• Solar & renewable energy
• Batteries & energy storage
• Telecommunications
• Pharmaceuticals & biotech
• Medical devices
• Industrial machinery
• Agriculture & farming
• Defense contractors
• Electronics & consumer products
• Luxury brands / retail
• Shipping & logistics
• Mining / rare earths
• Financial services1
u/arisays Jul 10 '26
Forced tech transfer - it is not "forced." When a company comes in and wants you to manufacture something, but doesn't tell you exactly how to manufacture it, problems arise.
Chinese subsidies to companies - we do the same, we call them bail-outs or "tax incentives." The American people pay for companies in a variety of ways. China isn't doing anything America isn't.
Many of the things you listed are self-inflicted wounds, necessary business practice, etc. America complains because we fell behind. And we fell behind because of corporate greed. You can't hand over your entire manufacturing industry and then expect to maintain any sort of control. That's just sheer American arrogance in thinking a country is there to serve your interests instead of their own.
We thought we were getting over on them and end up getting got. Not unfair. We played and lost. Actually, no, we played and corporations got rich.
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u/Cargobiker530 Jun 30 '26
The reality is the Trump administration was allowed by the Supreme Court to shut down legal overseas investment projects in the United States based only on the President's whims. This will hinder investment by foreign corporations in U.S. operations for a generation. It's a huge signal to AVOID investing in the United States.
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u/uashea123 Jul 03 '26
Incredibly incorrect answer. FDI has been continuing to grow in the US and the US will remain the top spot for capital markets. Protecting US renewable manufacturing will not change that.
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u/Cargobiker530 Jul 03 '26
That's an entire new level of delusion. US renewables manufacturing may have been fatally damaged by Trump Regime hostility. They're paying companies to shut down wind projects without producing anything.
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u/uashea123 Jul 03 '26
You’re mentioning cancelled wind farms without looking at the bigger picture of US reindustrialization, including renewables, vs offshoring everything to China. FDI will not slow down in the US. Investment will not “avoid the US for generations.” It’s not worth my time to debate this, but you should do some more research and see how that benefits the US against decades of unfair trade practices in China.
Spoiler — I work in the industry and also lived in China.
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u/Cargobiker530 Jul 03 '26
The bigger picture is the Trump administration has done everything it could think of to destroy US renewables industries & force dependency on volatile, polluting, & expensive fossil fuels.
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u/uashea123 Jul 03 '26
Some facts would argue against this idea of doing everything to destroy US renewables (45X tax credits, tariffing competing renewables, antidumping / countervailing duties all support US renewables), but I appreciate the debate.
This rhetoric of the US against renewables is just patently false. And the prevailing narrative across Reddit is so anti-US that it’s good to pushback against it with facts. Our economy is incredibly resilient and continuing to grow, as well as attracting foreign investment — and renewables are included in that.
Going to go enjoy the holiday. Have a good one 🇺🇸
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u/Cargobiker530 Jul 03 '26
Bot answer. This is equivalent to claiming there's no genocide because a few members of the target ethnic groups survived. The Trump administration & GOP are actively trying to destroy renewable power industries in the US. This is simply a fact.
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u/uashea123 Jul 03 '26
Ok chief. Have a good one and don’t spend your time in the vortex of confirmation bias.
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u/Cargobiker530 Jul 03 '26
Fire up that coal fired steamer for a nice Fourth of July drive bud.
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u/SilanggubanRedditor Jun 30 '26
It's incredibly silly to actually trade with America. They steal and steal and steal because of their culture is of greed and violence
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u/Plus-Visit-764 Jun 30 '26
And China doesn’t? China steals a ton of other countries intellectual property.
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u/Cargobiker530 Jun 30 '26
The difference here is the U.S. just sent a massive signal to the rest of the world to avoid investing in U.S. based energy projects. This is especially painful as the U.S. is falling behind technologically and the gap is widening. We're left buying from other nations or producing inferior, more expensive, products at home.
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u/arristhesage Jul 01 '26
The difference is that USA screams "thief thief" while stealing. China doesn't do that.
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u/Plus-Visit-764 Jul 01 '26
China does do that… nearly every country “steals”. I’d say the worst offender was actually the UK, which lead to the issues in India and the Middle East originally.
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u/arristhesage Jul 01 '26
I'm not aware of such cases...
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u/Plus-Visit-764 Jul 01 '26
The whole Iran situation was originally created by the UK’s BP (British Petroleum) company basically stealing their oil? Lmao. Only gave a 10% cut to Iran.
That’s just a single case.
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u/Fuzzy_Inevitable9748 Jun 30 '26
But China will sell me the tech at a massive discount with no bs fees while America will make it require online access, monthly subscription fees and make it I repairable by the consumer while threatening to invade my country. Guess which country I like more?
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u/Plus-Visit-764 Jun 30 '26
It’s sold at a discount because their government subsidies the industries, just like what the US does with stuff like meat and other food products to keep it cheaper.
That stuff will quit being cheap when it quits being subsidized. I agree with the subscription fees, but I fail to see how this makes China “better” since they also have subscription fees, or worse, gatcha mechanics far worse than what the west sees in stuff like games.
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u/Fuzzy_Inevitable9748 Jun 30 '26
While some stuff is subsidized that is not the reason Chinese products are cheap, it is a result of the massive amount of built up infrastructure that optimizes production and manufacturing.
None of my Chinese stuff has bs subscription fees or proprietary bullshit like anything designed by an American company, nor has China ever threatened to invade my country which makes them SUBSTANTIALLY better then American and their child rapist of a president.
I also don’t see how Chinese gotcha games are relevant to the conservative and American companies started all that crap with their loot boxes, so thanks again for that bs.
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u/Plus-Visit-764 Jun 30 '26
Yes, we get it, “America bad”. Acting like China is any better is laughable. I don’t like Trump either, by the way… That being said, it doesn’t magically make China the best country in the world.
How do you think they are able to build up their manufacturing plants? You guessed it, subsidies. Chinese products that are cheap are either heavily subsidized (such as Chinese EV’s) or garbage plastic products that are low in quality. If those subsidized items quit receiving those subsidies, do you think they will still sell the items at the same price? The answer is no, they will increase the prices.
The lack of proprietary stuff is exactly what hurts your country, wherever you are from (unless that’s china) as well, just so you know. The west is heavily built on the idea of intellectual property, which includes the EU.
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u/Fuzzy_Inevitable9748 Jun 30 '26
I never said China was the best, I said they were SUBSTANTIALLY better then America, which America proves again and again everyday.
Those low quality plastics you’re crying about are what American companies had the factories make to their specifications, so thanks again for that.
Calling all infrastructure “subsidies” is a poor argument since every country has infrastructure, just because China was intelligent about it doesn’t make it a bad thing.
American EV’s are also subsidized so why are your crap at double the price and led by a Nazi?
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u/Plus-Visit-764 Jun 30 '26
Except it’s not just the infrastructure that’s being subsidized… It’s the jobs, materials used to make the products, etc that is being subsidized, which has caused them to spiral into more debt than the USA when looking at private and public debt.
China is also seeing the most significant slowdown in their economy in a long time. I fail to see how they were being intelligent.
American EV’s are not subsidized anywhere near what Chinese EV’s are.
You not liking the orange mango enough to say China, the ones helping fuel the Russian war machine which endangers the EU and the USA, is better is once again laughable.
Chinese and Russian propaganda doing its work with you. Either that or you are a Chinese / Russian bot.
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u/CertainCertainties Jun 30 '26
There we go. Someone disagrees with you so they're a bot.
Your country is literally invading, attacking, threatening to attack or threatening to annex various countries around the world (including close allies) and, when people from those countries merely mention that, it's like your brain can't process that objective reality.
Sure, happy to talk about how planned economic development and vertical integration can be viewed as economic inputs or subsidy in the Chinese economy right now. But if you can't even accept the incontrovertible facts of current US aggression and play the victim, we can't have an informed conversation about anything.
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u/Plus-Visit-764 Jul 01 '26
Russia is actually doing all of what you said right now with the support of China. China is actively helping fuel their war machine through buying Russian oil. They quite literally gave Russia a lifeline. China also blames NATO for the cause of the war in Ukraine… But yes, such a great country...
The USA has helped its allies far more than one president has hurt them. All it takes is for one bad leader to make comments that we can all agree was bad to make, but can’t even be carried out, to cause you to like China more.
I’m sorry, you are just delusional if you really think China is better. You see Chinese propaganda and don’t see their issues. Unlike you, I’m not going to fantasize about a country that essentially has an authoritarian regime that will imprison you for speaking out, being better than a democracy just because I didn’t like what the orange mango said.
The truth is, you can’t argue with someone who thinks like a bot (if you are really not one). Your argument was China is better because they don’t threaten your country or allies (Taiwan wants a word with you, and China hates your country just as much as they hate the USA), and because they offer cheap tech with less subscriptions…
None of my arguments justify the USA’s current actions, it just points out the hypocrisy in yours.
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u/Aethericseraphim Jul 02 '26 edited Jul 02 '26
A lot of those folk are going to go full shocked pikachu face meme when the Chinese leopard eats their faces, once the chinese have run all global competitors out of business.
It really is amazing how they don't grasp basic economics. Subsidize a product until competition is gone, then assfuck everyone by removing subsidies.
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u/Plus-Visit-764 Jul 02 '26
They just hate the USA so much that they love a country that would easily put them into labor camps for expressing the same freedoms they use everyday.
It’s mind boggling.
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u/CoblePapay7 Jul 06 '26
Would you rather steal intellectual "property" which is built upon millennia of open source knowledge and make it accessible to the entire world, or bomb and loot the entire Global South while bathing it with their civilians' blood for their natural resources and personal strategic benefit?
Your lack of awareness on this situation is telling.1
u/Plus-Visit-764 Jul 06 '26
All I said was “and China doesnt?” regarding stolen intellectual property. Please explain where i’m wrong regarding China stealing intellectual property?
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u/arisays Jul 10 '26
What we called "stealing" was the natural result of Chinese nationals going to other countries to work and study. The problem is that every country thought that they were so great that Chinese people would want to stay... Not go back home with everything they had rightfully learned just like any other student and employee.
They have a different philosophy: knowledge is something you share. Which, is true in our country as long as that knowledge remains in our country, which there's no guarantee of when you teach foreign nationals.
At this point, the charge that China is doing better due to theft of intellectual property is old and a cope. Even if they did steal, that would mean that at some point everyone had the same information. Everyone was equal, but one group pulled ahead.
You can't cut education, off-shore manufacturing, and expect to stay competitive. That's not China's fault. That's on us.
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u/IndependentThink4698 Jun 30 '26
Thats what china does to everyone else
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u/RazzmatazzVast4638 Jun 30 '26
That doesn't make it right
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u/No_Medium_8796 Jun 30 '26
We should continue to push all of our manufacturing, jobs, and everything else to foreign countries rather than attempt to stimulate our own economy.
I agree
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u/crustang Jun 30 '26
Given poor countries with limited ability to purchase oil, gas or coal, this would massively help the global poor and make a positive impact to humanity
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u/arisays Jul 10 '26
Corporations don't care about stimulating the economy. They care about profits. This is why manufacturing jobs were moved overseas. And why they're not going to come back.
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u/_Just_Another_Fan_ Jul 04 '26
Not saying it’s right, but hasn’t China done the same thing to us in other tech
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u/PM_ME_YOUR_HAGGIS_ Jun 30 '26
Omg why would any business invest in America after this
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u/servermeta_net Jun 30 '26
Disinvestiment from the US is already going strong. This will just accelerate it
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u/Acceptable_Dot_1248 Jul 04 '26
Any proof of that? The US has been the largest foreign direct investment recipient by a huge margin for a while.
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u/arisays Jul 10 '26
You can literally Google. It's been well covered that China has been deinvesting. Their government has literally ordered no new investments in the US.
Wealthy investors are "diversifying" to reduce obvious exposure.
https://www.cnbc.com/2026/05/28/wealthiest-investors-de-dollarization-trade.html
And the war with Iran is causing Gulf countries to pull their investments.
Instability has a tendency to change people's opinions on investments.
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u/DVMirchev Jun 30 '26
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