US President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Thursday that imposes a 15% tariff on imported products made from polysilicon, a important material used in semiconductors and solar panels, according to the BBC. The order also set minimum import prices on polysilicon and related products; it comes after a national security investigation into the production of the material overseas. The move is intended to help protect US manufacturers as they face increasing competition from China’s chip industry, a key source of friction between the world’s two largest economies.

Response from China and the US

The Chinese embassy in Washington said the move “seriously disrupts” trade between the two countries and Beijing will act to protect its companies — Washington is “abusing state power to go after Chinese businesses,” the embassy said, adding that protectionism will not make the US more competitive. Trump said in the order that he had accepted recommendations by Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick to set minimum import prices as well as a 15% tariff on polysilicon and related imports. The measures are due to take effect in December.

The US will also offer incentives to boost domestic production, it added. For decades, the US has allowed “foreign firms to weaken United States producers in the polysilicon sector,” said Trump, who has long advocated for the use of tariffs to protect American jobs and boost the economy. The material is critical in military equipment and electronics, yet imports have led to the US’ share of global polysilicon production to fall from 50% in 2005 to less than 2% in 2024, Trump said.

Implications for US Producers

China holds a near monopoly on the production of polysilicon, as the order is likely to benefit Hemlock Semiconductor and Wacker Chemie, which are the main producers of the material in the US. The production of computer chips is central to the race between the US and China to develop artificial intelligence (AI); Washington and Beijing have also been locked in a tit-for-tat tariffs war, which has been on hold since May 2025.

Analysts quoted by Chinese state media outlet Global Times said the new tariff marks the latest escalation in Washington’s efforts to limit China’s role in critical technology supply chains. The move follows other US restrictions on the imports of drones, humanoid robots and other tech products from China, as China announced a range of countermeasures this week, including tighter export controls on drones. Beijing also launched a national security review into imported printers and copiers.

Additional Context and Responses

Donald Trump has ordered a new 15% tariff on imported products made of polysilicon, an important ingredient in microchip manufacturing that is primarily produced by China. The new tariff, which will take effect on 4 December, is aimed at supporting US chip and solar panel supply chains to compete with Beijing on artificial intelligence and energy. The executive order signed by the president on Thursday evening said: “The plan of action in this proclamation will, among other things, help ensure the commercial viability of United States production of polysilicon and its derivatives that is necessary to meet United States economic and national security requirements.”

Polysilicon, an ultra-pure form of silicon, is an important ingredient in making the semiconductors vital for AI processing power, datacentres and solar power generation. US solar factories have long accused Chinese rivals of dumping cheaper panels on the market, which they say have been enabled by excessive government subsidies and by moving manufacturing to other countries to dodge US tariffs. China’s foreign affairs ministry hit back at the latest measures, accusing the US of “overstretching the concept of national security, and abusing state power to go after Chinese businesses”. “Protectionism will not make the US more competitive,” the spokesperson Lin Jian said, arguing that the move “seriously disrupts normal trade and economic exchanges between Chinese and US businesses, and is not in the interest of US businesses and consumers or anyone else for that matter”.

“China will continue firmly protecting our businesses’ legitimate and lawful rights and interests,” Lin added. The US has two main polysilicon factories, including Hemlock Semiconductor, which operates a plant in Michigan and is a joint venture between the US tech company Corning and Japan’s Shin-Etsu Handotai. The Munich-based Wacker Chemie runs a factory in Tennessee. A spokesperson for Corning said the new tariff encouraged “continued investment in US capacity and supports long-term US competitiveness”, while Wacker said it appreciated the administration’s engagement “given the ramifications for semiconductor supply chain resilience, advanced computing infrastructure, and broader US defence and security interests”.

Trump said in the order that he had accepted recommendations by the commerce secretary, Howard Lutnick, to set minimum import prices of $21 (£15.62) a kilogram for polysilicon, $100 a kilogram for polysilicon ingots and wafers, $0.22 a watt for solar cells, and $0.38 a watt for solar modules or panels. The order also allows the commerce department to create an incentive programme for companies that invest in factories to produce polysilicon or derivative products. Trump’s move against China comes as Beijing revealed the country’s exports surged by 23.9% in dollar terms year-on-year in July, driven by shipments of AI-related products.