The United States And Europe Want To Transfer The Supply Chain Of Solar Cells And Chips, And Decoupling From China in Many Fields

On May 15 and 16, the US-EU Trade and Technology Committee held its second meeting in Paris. The 46-page draft final statement of the meeting disclosed before the meeting shows that the United States and Europe intend to "decouple" from China in fields such as solar cells, rare earths, and chips. Europe and the United States are trying to decouple from China, excluding Chinese companies from their supply chains.

On May 15 and 16, the US-EU Trade and Technology Committee (TTC) held its second meeting in Paris. The 46-page draft final statement of the meeting disclosed before the meeting shows that the United States and Europe intend to "decouple" from China in fields such as solar cells, rare earths, and chips.
 

"Süddeutsche Zeitung" said that the meeting in Paris was attended by US Secretary of State Blinken, Commerce Minister Raimondo, and Trade Representative Dai Qi; EU Competition Commissioner Vestager, Executive Vice President of the European Commission, and EU Trade Representative Commissioner Dombrovskis, and EU Internal Market and Services Executive Commissioner Brighton.

One topic of their exchange was rare earths: the raw materials needed to produce magnets, for example. In the transition to a green economy, magnet demand has risen sharply. They are an important part of wind turbines and electric drive systems. According to the draft final statement, nearly 60 percent of rare earth production comes from China. In further processing, the value is even around 90%.

Climate protection will increase the demand for solar cells. The draft final statement also warned of a "high concentration of supply" in China. After the U.S., the European Union will soon ban imports of goods produced using forced labor. This could affect solar cells from Xinjiang.

"Business Daily" also pointed out another theme of this meeting: cooperation in the chip industry. The draft final statement revealed that the United States and Europe hope to use a network monitoring mechanism to detect semiconductor shortages early. Experts from both sides will be in contact every two weeks to exchange information on possible risks. The two sides also want to push ahead with the construction of new chip factories and ease rules on state aid. At the same time, the US and Europe want to avoid a subsidy race. The document also said that many new technologies related to artificial intelligence are being developed in Asia. The West wants to catch up and needs unified rules as soon as possible for the Aluminum Solar Middle Clamp.