At a recent electronics fair in Shanghai, Chinese semiconductor companies were out in force, showcasing their ambitions with bold slogans like “Offering complete domestic solutions” and “Use Chinese chips, love Chinese chips.” These catchphrases reflect Beijing’s push for technological self-reliance. But despite the patriotic marketing, China’s dependence on certain American semiconductors remains stark—especially in key industrial sectors like automotive manufacturing.

That reality was thrown into sharp relief in late April when China unexpectedly lifted its 125% retaliatory tariffs on eight categories of U.S.-made chips. The decision, which followed lobbying by major Chinese automakers, reveals how difficult it has been for China to reduce its reliance on foreign semiconductors, particularly in areas where domestic substitutes remain immature or untested.

The United States has opened a new front in its long-running solar trade campaign by imposing preliminary antidumping duties on solar cells and panels from India, Indonesia, and Laos. The Commerce Department concluded that exporters in those three countries were selling into the U.S. market at unfairly low prices, with preliminary dumping margins set at 123.04% for India, 35.17% for Indonesia, and 22.46% for Laos.

Together, those three countries supplied roughly $4.5 billion of U.S. solar imports last year, accounting for about two-thirds of the total, so this is not a niche trade action. It strikes directly at one of the main supply channels feeding the fast-growing American solar market.

KoBold Metals, a mining start-up backed by Bill Gates, is reportedly moving closer to making investments in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), a significant source of essential metals for the green energy transition. According to the company’s CEO, Kurt House, KoBold has…