Phred Dvorak of The Wall Street Journal reports that China’s biggest solar companies are expanding in the U.S., where they will reap generous government aid. Dvorak writes:
For years, the U.S. erected higher and higher barriers to the import of Chinese solar panels, arguing that was the best way to protect domestic suppliers.
Now, China’s solar giants are building their factories inside the U.S.
During the past year, the world’s biggest solar companies, all of which do the bulk of their manufacturing in China, have quietly launched plans to set up or expand panel factories in locations from Ohio to Texas—part of a rush to build in the U.S. following the introduction of generous production subsidies with the Inflation Reduction Act in 2022.
China-based companies are behind nearly a quarter of the roughly 80 gigawatts in new solar-panel capacity that has been announced since that legislation, according to an analysis by The Wall Street Journal. […]
The U.S. market needs Chinese solar manufacturers for their technological know-how, ability to bring suppliers from China, capital and appetite for investment, Zhu says.
Zhu knows there is pushback from U.S. politicians on Chinese manufacturers. But, he says “we’re not politicians. We just do the business.”
Read more here.