OPINION — For years, warning lights have been flashing around the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) drive to assert global dominance and reshape international governance in the likeness of its own oppressive regime. Even as the CCP telegraphed its ambitions with its “Made in China 2025” plan—a ten-year blueprint to conquer the world’s high-tech industries—U.S. industrial and security policy have done little to curtail China’s rapid ascension towards its goals. Today, the Chinese government is quietly amassing an advantage over the United States in another critical technology —silicon carbide (SiC) wafers—which poses a serious threat to U.S. national security.
SiC wafers are the foundation of modern technologies, from cell phones to airplanes, and have become the material of choice for high-power applications like electric vehicles, military systems, and power grids. Recognizing the danger of China’s growing control of this market, the Biden administration initiated a Section 301 investigation late last year, a requisite step to impose tariffs on foreign-made wafers.
“Evidence indicates that the People’s Republic of China has adopted acts, policies, and practices related to targeting of the semiconductor industry for dominance,” the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) said in a statement announcing the investigation. The statement noted that China had nearly doubled its global share of foundational logic chip production capabilities in six years, and is on pace to make half the world’s supply by 2029.
Given President Trump’s long-standing and unrelenting effort to counter China’s unfair and corrosive industrial policy, his advisors must complete the Section 301 investigation quickly, and immediately impose tariffs on Chinese-made SiC wafers and the chips that use them.
Top personnel for both administrations understand that SiC wafers are a keystone component of advanced semiconductors, the chips that power sophisticated networks. As the base that semiconductors are built on, SiC wafers have proven indispensable for military systems and equipment that must operate in harsh conditions. Missile defenses, electronic warfare, and satellites are just a few of the applications that rely on semiconductors made with SiC wafers.
During both our naval careers, we saw first-hand how weapons systems rely on technology that must perform in severe conditions. Today, our Navy’s most critical warfighting capability, the Aegis Combat System on the Arleigh Burke-class Destroyers, is engaging missiles and drones on a daily basis in the Red Sea. Aegis utilizes the SPY-6, the world’s most advanced at-sea radar system. SPY-6 leverages SiC for its gallium nitride modules to enhance detection range and target identification to successfully intercept ballistic and cruise missiles. Without access to SiC, we can’t use gallium nitride, which leaves our sailors vulnerable to enemy missiles.
The CCP knows how fundamental SiC wafers are, and is aggressively working to gain an advantage over the U.S. Using government subsidies, Chinese quasi-government manufacturers have been able to produce wafers comparable in quality and application to U.S.-made products. These are then intentionally priced to undercut competitors, and flood the market. It’s the same “market capture” playbook the CCP employed to capture the production of LEDs, solar panels, small commercial drones, and LiDar systems, but with potentially more dire consequences.
By snuffing out free-market SiC wafer competition, the CCP can further tighten its grip on the advanced semiconductor market, effectively ensuring that U.S. defense systems become even more reliant on China for its supply chain.
President Trump has shown he has the courage to stand up to China, and President Biden’s initiation of the process to impose tariffs on SiC-wafer chips offers a head start for the incoming administration to toe a hard line. That’s exactly the policy prescription necessary to shore up our domestic chip-making base and ensure that our national defenses, and the components that run them, are proudly built in the United States.
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