Essay by Eric Worrall
LONGi Green Energy Technology has appealed for the West not to abandon Chinese manufacturers. But in 2021 LONGi was accused of using slave labor sourced components.
World’s biggest solar company warns west not to cut out Chinese suppliers
Longi executive says costs would double, job opportunities would be lost and green targets missed
Edward White in Shanghai FEBRUARY 15 2024
The world’s biggest solar panel manufacturer has warned that Europe and the US risk slower decarbonisation of their economies if they restrict Chinese companies from their renewable energy supply chains.
China dominates solar manufacturing, accounting for more than 80 per cent of global production following decades of deep state support, rapid domestic demand growth and intense local competition.
But western political and industry leaders have called for greater diversity in supply amid a glut of Chinese imports, as well as expressing security fears about China-made components being used in critical infrastructure.
Dennis She, vice-president of Longi Green Energy Technology, which has around 20 per cent of the global market for photovoltaic modules, told the Financial Times that western countries would “at least slow down” their transitions away from fossil fuels if they were to cut back on Chinese solar supplies. He also warned that the cost of solar panels produced without Chinese involvement in countries like the US would be “double”.
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Read more: https://www.ft.com/content/ba27f8d3-df06-4e2a-96b7-a8bbc06632a2
In 2021, LONGi was accused of connections to Chinese slave labor.
Solar-panel supplier’s links to alleged abuses in China imperil US climate goal
Author Michael Copley
Theme EnergyTechnology, Media & Telecom…
LONGi, the U.S.’s top solar-panel supplier, is exposed to possible human rights violations through its supply chain. LONGi and its subsidiaries sent at least 21% of the shipping containers that carried solar panels to U.S. ports during the second quarter of 2021, according to research firm Panjiva. Including panels from another leading manufacturer that buys material from LONGi, the company could account for as much as 30% of recent shipments.
LONGi buys polysilicon, a key ingredient in most solar panels, from at least three producers that source their raw material from Hoshine Silicon Industry Co. Ltd., according to a recent report from the Helena Kennedy Centre for International Justice at Sheffield Hallam University in the U.K.
Hoshine was hit with a U.S. import restriction in June after U.S. Customs and Border Protection, or CBP, said it found evidence that the company used forced labor at factories in China’s autonomous Xinjiang region, where Beijing is accused of suppressing Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities. LONGi has denied the allegations and the Chinese government previously has denied that it is committing human rights abuses in Xinjiang.
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Read more: https://www.spglobal.com/marketintelligence/en/news-insights/latest-news-headlines/solar-panel-supplier-s-links-to-alleged-abuses-in-china-imperil-us-climate-goal-65519164
LONGi strenuously denies using slave labor. But how can they be sure? How can any of us be sure? Even if LONGi management are completely sincere, slave labour is allegedly a practice promoted by Chinese authorities. If allegations of slave labor are true, there would be no pressure on upstream supply chain companies to tell the truth when asked, about which of their workers get to go home at night.
Even Western companies sometimes get caught out by tainted Chinese goods, despite strenuous due diligence. Germany’s Volkswagen had their vehicles impounded by US Customs last week, after US inspectors discovered the vehicles contained a component from a sanctioned source.
So my question stands – is the alleged climate crisis serious enough that we should take even a small risk of benefiting from slave labor? Or should we close the door to Chinese products, until China admits their wrongdoing, and convincingly renounces slavery? How else can we force China to stop this abomination?
Solar is generally a bad choice to be added to a grid, anyway. Greens do not actually care about actual people, their concerns being as nebulous as possible.
Forced and child labor in cobalt mining bothers them as much as slave labor in China—not at all.
Solar panels don’t produce enough energy to make more solar panels, that’s for sure.
They do, that’s for sure.
They do, that’s for sure.
I would be interested in seeing an example of that. Remember, it must include ALL energy costs required for production of new panels, including the costs of mining and transportation, not just mining.
Solyndra.
Under Obama they got a BUNCH of tax-payer dollars. Then they went bankrupt. None of the CEOs were held financially responsible.
They were big Obama donors.
Alleged money laundering.
“Or should we close the door to Chinese products, until China admits their wrongdoing, and convincingly renounces slavery? How else can we force China to stop this abomination?”
Forget the climate. The US needs to cut China out of our supply chains, as an urgent matter of national security. When China attacks Taiwan, they will also attempt to destroy every American Naval vessel in the Pacific. How will the US be able to defend itself if vital products such as medicines are sourced from China.
Notice I wrote when not if. They have been blatant about their plans. We need to take it seriously. Our highest priority needs to be cutting all economic ties with China.
China’s dominance in several critical global supply chains is worrisome. Examples include rare earths, LiIon battery materials, pharmaceutical active ingredients, and PPE.
Hopefully Trump will address it through a combination of tariffs and domestic sourcing incentives such as a strategic rare earths stockpile built only from domestic sources.
Russia is a major source of critical raw materials which is also worrisome.
Used to be with nickel. But the Chinese invested in Indonesia and now it is the largest producer exporter—mostly to China.
Canada has very large nickel resources. Unfortunately, Canada also has Justin Trudeau, and perhaps the most cowardly Parliament anywhere except NZ (with Australia and the UK running a strong third and fourth).
Correct, Rud. With the scrawl of a pen, he could reinstate a ‘Buy American’ act for at least US government acquisition/purchasing, with a further stipulation that all materials be US sourced, and not foreign made and US rebranded. That would spur US manufacturing. Along with an EO revamping energy policy…one can only dream.
Regards,
MCR
While it would be good to have more U.S. manufacturing, we need to revamp our education system. The exposure to basic mechanical and technical skills as well as physical skills in our education system is sorely lacking.
At my sportsmen’s club, during a work party, we were putting in a firing line requiring the use of a sledge hammer to anchor a half-round wood piece. A volunteer needing to complete his yearly work hours, nearly broke his leg. I grabbed the sledge out of his hand and directed him to another work party. He stated the only tools he uses is a keyboard. At least he was willing to try. That was over ten years ago and I don’t know if the current crop of youth would even make the attempt.
To revive the manufacturing base we will need to rely on a lot of automation. It is long past the time where we could depend on manual labor to assemble our products. To revive the manufacturing base we need to stress the inclusion of physics, material science, and physical fitness in our education system.
FJB
Yes 100%. Might have to it incrementally though just to avoid too much economic shock. China is in big trouble economically. Which makes them perhaps more dangerous and volatile than ever. It is an evil anti- human dictatorship. Very very dangerous because they have almost perfected modern technology control, economic control and human labor “production “ control of the population.
Danger, Danger- seriously.
The dream of so many hive minded in the west who would be king bees.
Incrementalism is a cowardly mistake. This is urgent. China is our sworn enemy. We need to get our head out of the noose.
These are frightening times to be sure.
There are only about 46 weeks until the next Inauguration day. The window of opportunity may be closing for Xi to attack Taiwan while the most pathetically weak president in history (and effectively his agent, since he is so compromised) still controls the US military. Unless he knows that the Demonrats have a lock on stealing the election, it may be a matter of attacking now, knowing that Brandon will acquiesce, or having to fight a real war in 2025 against Trump.
The traitor Resident Biden has kept up his part of the deal with China and who knows how many Red Guards are already in place across the US, ready to sabotage us in times of crisis? He has depleted our strategic oil reserve and has depleted our conventional weapon stockpiles fighting to the last Ukrainian upholding his side of another bribery deal with another corrupt regime. If not now, when will America be weaker and more likely to acquiesce?
I think that it’s a medium probability that China attacks Taiwan soon and Biden does…
nothing.
Then Kringe Jean-Pierre will sanctimoniously inform us it was necessary to avoid World War III, great patriot that Dementia Joe is. In such a case there would be no attacks on US ships. Sanctions would certainly be applied but they will have to be for show, not actually impactful, because Xi has the US by the balls, controlling our pharmaceutical precursors, not to mention the computer chips we used to get from Taiwan.
A similarly probable outcome is that Xi decides to keep the rallying point alive, making many belligerent noises, but not actually doing anything toward achieving what he says is so important. Think of every Republican in the past 45 years, fundraising and campaigning against abortion. What if he takes Taiwan and China is isolated economically leading to the definitive collapse of their Potemkin economy? Instead maybe he plays for a grand bargain where the US withdraws some troops from Korea and Taiwan affirms that they are part of China. Everybody walks away declaring peace. Nobel Peace Prizes for Xi and Brandon.
What I don’t see is an actual war between the US and China. Biden will kowtow.
China does what it wants to and ignores world norms and complaints. The media supports China 100% and doesn’t report anything negative about China. Who’s the world’s leading producer of that demon CO2? Anyone that doesn’t see where this is headed is naive.
Will ANY “green targets” be hit? I doubt it.
Pop quiz time:
What is the raw mined mineral needed to refine silica into silicon metal?
Then what is needed to grow electronic-grade polysilicon bricks?
Coal. Electricity.
A+
“How else can we force China to stop this abomination?”. Elect Trump, then elect whomever is his VP, for eight years, giving 12 years in total against the whole China/BRICS/NETZERO/Socialist/Marxist nonsense. There, I feel better, and you will to, come November. Wait for it.
Read ‘In Broad Daylight: Uyghur Forced Labour and Global Solar Supply Chains’.
See https://www.shu.ac.uk/helena-kennedy-centre-international-justice/research-and-projects/all-projects/in-broad-daylight
Not only silicon in Xinjiang. China is deeply involved, through mine ownership and management of artisan mining, in child labor at cobalt mines in Congo.
Slavery simply put is a cheap way of getting labor. Morals indicate that all people have the same rights so it is immoral to take the rights of a person away through slavery. Communism is immoral so they don’t see a problem with it until it takes the rights away from the ruling class.
It would cost more not to use slave labor however the higher cost needs to be taken into account when determining if we really need the product that would be manufactured. If we determine the cost is too high we don’t need slavery or the product.
Many of the founders of the United States made this determination before the Declaration of Independence was signed so slavery was only tolerated but not approved until it was totally eliminated in the United States.
Wildfires are blazing in China….and ironically….it may be due to the global warming theory…..lithium batteries could be the major culprit..
I don’t think Xi’s Taiwan Sabre rattling amount to much near term. Three main reasons:
Another reason to be skeptical are the Taiwan integrated circuit manufacturing plants—it is 99% certain Taiwan would not let them fall into Chinese control unscathed, even assuming they survive an invasion and war. There would be no economic gain.
They may surprise us. They’ve been building coal to fuel plants which they claim are for the chemicals industry, which could be diverted to gasoline and diesel. And they’ve been trying to stockpile food – we mainly hear about the mistakes.
Perhaps they are hoping if they strike Taiwan with overwhelming force, maybe even use a few tac nukes to make a point, the West will back down. Given their economic and demographic problems, they may be near desperate enough to try it.
As for the obvious counterstrike, against the 3 Gorges Dam and some of their other dams, I suspect that would invite a nuclear response – much like if China struck the Hoover Dam in the USA.
Very nice Eric.
A couple things. Number one I am convinced that the Chinese government mistreats many of its people. Chinese organizations who deny it are liars.
Number two mistreatment of it’s people aside there are many other reasons to question supporting China with our business. Polluting the air, land and water. Reproduction policies. Workers rights. Restriction of speech. Restriction of religion. Government control of news. Government control of education. Suspicious elections and so on. I see little reason to give China benefit of the doubt.
It’s not just the Uyghurs, my friends in China tell me they have also built forced labor camps in Inner Mongolia, Tibet and other places with non-Han Chinese. It may be a nation wide ethnic cleansing effort – an a horrible solution to China’s demographic imbalance. One particularly ugly story coming out of Xinjiang is when the men are imprisoned in slave labor camps, Han Chinese men move into their homes and take charge of the women, to “help” them integrate with Han culture.
One of the most popular, esteemed and financially successful Chinese actresses is a Muslim Uyghur from Xinjiang, Dilraba Dilmurat.
Should we close the door to electric vehicles, until China and the West admit their wrongdoing in exploiting child desperation-labor in Africa?
If a country uses what equates to (or actually is) slave or child labor, then tariffs are the defense against such practices.
Unions and Government Regulations (the useless ones) hinder efforts for a free nation’s efforts to remain competitive.
The Chinese get around tariffs with an exception for bifacial panels that the Chinese produce and export is great numbers. I wonder how many hordes of gold bars that produced for Dems like the pile of gold in the home of Sen. Menedez in NJ.
There is nothing savoury about manufacture from China, especially that related to solar panels, rare earths, components for EVs, the list goes on. That country has a poor record w.r.t. environmental protection, does not live up to even the minimums of its own labour laws, and aggressively subsidises products until it has destroyed all competition. I refrain from buying anything made in that country and go out of my way to buy goods made in the west (Canada, UK, Australia, USA, etc., by example, if you want Australian boots, buy Red Backs NOT Blundstone).
The bigger issue is that taking $0.08 per kwh Chinese coal powered electricity to make $0.40 per kwh Western electricity is a price arbitrage game having nothing whatsoever to do with reducing CO2 emissions. It is an elaborate perpetual motion machine scam.
Just more China bashing . .