Posted on 01/16/2017 9:22:51 PM PST by RightGeek
Semiconductors are essential to everything from home appliances to cars, satellites and fighter aircraft. The U.S. has led the industry since its start in the 1950s, with firms like Intel, Qualcomm and Apple today accounting for nearly 50% of global sales, worth about $165 billion a year, and employing some 359,000 Americans. Semiconductors are the fourth-most valuable U.S. export behind airplanes, petroleum products and cars.
China hopes to change this through state subsidies and predatory trade practices. The White House report, drafted by industry and policy experts, warns that “Chinese policies are distorting markets in ways that undermine innovation, subtract from U.S. market share, and put U.S. national security at risk.”
In 2014 the Chinese government launched an unprecedented $150 billion program to subsidize domestic semiconductor production and acquire advanced technologies overseas. Beijing also increasingly forces Chinese firms to use domestic suppliers while forcing foreign firms to transfer technology in exchange for market access. This indirect theft of intellectual property is complemented by direct pilfering via abuse of joint ventures, state-backed cyberhacking and commercial espionage.
No Chinese semiconductor firm is in the global top 20 today, but Beijing aspires to world-class status in all major segments of the industry by 2030. By 2025 it wants to produce 70% of the chips used in its economy, up from 9% today. Along the way it wants to erode the commercially and militarily significant technological advantage long held by companies in the U.S., Japan, Taiwan, South Korea and Germany.
The recent attempt by Chinese investors to buy German firm Aixtron, which isn’t mentioned in the White House report, raises particular red flags. Two state-backed Chinese firms may have colluded to put Aixtron into distress by canceling a large order at the last minute.
(Excerpt) Read more at wsj.com ...
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Tariffs are the answer. Just do it Mr. Trump we are not afraid to fight back against these ChiCom pricks.
Their chips likely have backdoors.
And if their chips are anything like the crap in Walmart, no thanks.
Not surprised to see what happens when everybody is licking China’s war boots.
At some point, people will decide not to be a party to that any more.
In general, make it easier to go domestic, harder to lean on unfree countries.
There are plenty of US companies that have moved production to China including Texas Instruments and Intel.
Part of this seems to be the trendiness of the concept rather than any real strategic vision.
China won’t be able to restrain its own greed and pride forever, however. The worm will turn westward again.
I believe at the time the trend started, people were imagining that China would simply open up to the west and become, essentially, as western oriented as Taiwan and South Korea are.
However, freedom of Christian faith is a key part of that. Christian faith is what made the west what it is. It is the God part of the 3-G formula. China isn’t (formally) letting go of this, although more and more Christianity manages to make a way anyhow (along with a lot of phony cults).
China doesn’t want to worship God yet. It still wants to worship riches. This is the root of all kinds of evil. It has polluted itself far worse than Taiwan and South Korea has, in the name of it.
A lot of Rx products are produced in India today.
There could be worse places. India itself today seems to be wanting to turn westward. Having a significant Islamic presence at its door is an incentive to that too.
America needs to be wise in what it invests in. It would be far saner to help India along than to keep feeding the Chinese monster.
I don’t know if this means anything specifically to you, but there seems to be a back door to Christian faith in India, and it’s known as the Hindu culture. They’ll worship anything, which can be a curse, but if they worship the right entity (namely Jesus), it becomes a blessing.
Not all situations in the world are created equal.
Silicon semiconductors will be obsolete long before that, so unless China can innovate faster than us, they will be playing catch-up again.
I wouldn't call that "indirect theft." That makes it sound like these companies were innocent victims who had no idea what the deal was.
Not a chance. They make those agreements out of greed. They know exactly how the game works, but short-term profits are more important to them than longer-term strategy. They need to be called out on that basis more often.
But Free Traitor Mark Levin was denouncing Trump's tariffs on tonight's show. Oh noes!
Remember when Silicon Valley wasn’t a Silly Con?
There is a huge section of the “GOP” who participated in selling out America.
Along with democrats.
Everyone was all, selling us out globally. Really it has been going on for at least the entire last generation, from both parties. Everyone was selling us out.
Trump is the first guy anywhere, who actually seems to be for America once again.
The only one.
Levin is part of the problem.
But he’s not alone. In fact, there is an entire establishment sold out, in this regard.
That may change, now.
American semiconductor production is the most automated manufacturing process in the world.
Each American semiconductor employee generates $460,000 of revenue.
And, across the entire USA manufacturing sector, America's 13 million employees generate almost as much revenue as China's 100 million manufacturing employees.
China's “trump” card (sorry for the pun) is cheap labor, which simply can't compete against the most sophisticated machines in the world.
India is a natural ally. No idea why they went Soviet all that time.
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