2026-09-04T10:06:25.296Z / 路透社
华盛顿，9月4日（路透社）——据知情人士透露，美国政府原本希望将其作为保护美国半导体供应链举措之一的田纳西州一家工厂，如今面临关闭风险，原因是特朗普政府新出台的贸易措施赶走了其仅剩的两家客户。
知情人士称，生产用于芯片和太阳能电池板的多晶硅的德国瓦克化学，未来几周内将决定是否关闭其位于田纳西州查尔斯顿的工厂，该工厂雇佣了约600名工人。
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路透社未能核实这两家客户的姓名。
据不愿透露姓名的知情人士表示，此番事态源于白宫上月发布的一项旨在激励购买美国产多晶硅的公告，该人士因此事尚未公开而拒绝具名。
瓦克化学未就客户流失或工厂可能关闭置评。该公司表示，现在评估该政策对其业务的影响还为时过早，但指出公告“就目前文本而言，并未有效支持使用美国产多晶硅”。
该公司还表示，正与政府积极磋商，以寻求实现该政策保护国内生产商目标的途径。
这一此前未被报道过的困境，是特朗普贸易政策未能帮助其原本打算扶持的行业的最新例证。此前，钢铁和铝关税推高了美国汽车制造商的成本，削弱了它们与进口产品的竞争力，直至后续出台额外措施才有所缓解。
这一事件也让人质疑特朗普政府能否保护美国芯片供应链免受中国主导地位的冲击——长期以来在太阳能级多晶硅市场占据主导地位的中国企业，已进军更高端的半导体级多晶硅市场。
主张关税和产业政策的“繁荣美国联盟”指出，将于12月生效的贸易措施实施细则应奖励购买美国产多晶硅的行为，并指出美国国内仅有两家企业生产该材料。
“如果不能明确表明国内多晶硅将成为太阳能和半导体供应链的基础，我们就有可能将这两个领域都拱手让给外国竞争对手和中国等敌对国家，”该组织发言人尼克·亚科维拉说道。“这直接构成国家安全威胁。”
美国商务部未回应置评请求。一位特朗普政府官员表示，政府“将继续与行业利益相关方接触”，以制定其将多晶硅制造业回迁的战略。
8月6日宣布的贸易措施包括设立价格下限，并对进口多晶硅锭、硅片、电池和太阳能电池板征收关税。
但这些措施同样适用于任何地方使用多晶硅生产的海外产品，对中国产和美国产原材料一视同仁。据市场研究公司伯恩鲁特研究的数据，美国产多晶硅的成本可能高达外国产品的四倍，因此这一规定仍将美国产多晶硅置于劣势地位。
“我们预计，就目前的结构而言，第232节关税不会提升美国产多晶硅的需求，”伍德麦肯兹研究分析师埃莉萨·皮尔斯说道。
该措施受到了拥有中国背景的阿曼外资竞争对手联合太阳能多晶硅公司的欢迎。
美国另一家多晶硅生产商Hemlock Semiconductor受政策影响较小，因为其母公司康宁会采购其太阳能级多晶硅在国内生产硅片。
尽管如此，该公告仍授权商务部为投资美国多晶硅生产的企业提供激励措施，但激励措施需针对每家企业单独协商。
总部位于慕尼黑的瓦克化学，其德国和美国业务一直面临中国企业的竞争压力。该公司去年削减了这座价值25亿美元的查尔斯顿工厂的岗位，首席执行官克里斯蒂安·哈特尔在公告发布前几日曾警告投资者，如果预期的贸易行动未能带来益处，该公司可能会出现“工厂过剩”的情况。
亚历山德拉·阿尔珀、尼科拉·格鲁姆 报道；克里斯·桑德斯、尼克·齐明斯基 编辑
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Trump’s bid to shield chip supply chain could backfire in Tennessee
2026-09-04T10:06:25.296Z / reuters.com
WASHINGTON, Sept 4 (Reuters) – A Tennessee factory that Washington had hoped to protect as part of a push to safeguard the U.S. semiconductor supply chain is at risk of closure after the Trump administration’s new trade measures drove away its two remaining customers, according to sources familiar with the matter.
Germany’s Wacker Chemie, which produces polysilicon that goes into chips and solar panels, will make a decision in the coming weeks on whether to close its Charleston, Tennessee, facility, which employs about 600 workers, the sources said.
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Reuters was not able to confirm the names of the two customers.
The move follows a White House proclamation last month that seeks to incentivize purchases of American polysilicon, the sources said, declining to be named because the matter was not public.
Wacker did not comment on the loss of customers or potential plant closure. It said it was too soon to assess the policy’s impact on its business but noted the proclamation “does not, as it reads now, effectively support the use of U.S. made polysilicon.”
The company also said it was in active discussions with the administration about ways to achieve the policy’s goal of protecting domestic producers.
The dilemma, not previously reported, is the latest example of a Trump trade policy failing to help one of the industries it had sought to aid. Steel and aluminum tariffs raised costs for U.S. automakers, damaging their ability to compete with imports until additional measures were taken.
It also raises questions about whether the Trump administration can protect the U.S. chip supply chain from Chinese supremacy, as Chinese firms, long dominant in solar-grade polysilicon, have made inroads into the market for the more refined semiconductor-grade variety.
The Coalition for a Prosperous America, which advocates for tariffs and industrial policies, argues the implementing rules for the trade measures, which take effect in December, should reward purchases of U.S.-made polysilicon, noting only two companies produce the material domestically.
“Without a clear signal that domestic polysilicon will be the foundation of both the solar and semiconductor supply chains, we risk ceding both to foreign competitors and adversarial nations like China,” said Nick Iacovella, a spokesperson for the group. “That is a direct national security threat.”
Commerce did not respond to requests for comment. A Trump administration official said the government “continues to engage with industry stakeholders” to inform its strategy on reshoring polysilicon manufacturing.
The trade measures, announced August 6, include a price floor and a tariff on inbound polysilicon ingots, wafers, cells and solar panels.
But they apply equally to products made abroad with polysilicon from anywhere, treating Chinese and American-origin materials the same. That maintains the disadvantage for American polysilicon, which can cost four times more, according to market research firm Bernreuter Research.
“We don’t expect the Section 232 tariffs, as currently structured, to boost demand for U.S. polysilicon,” said Elissa Pierce, a Wood Mackenzie research analyst.
The measure was welcomed by foreign rival United Solar Polysilicon, an Oman-based company with China ties.
Hemlock Semiconductor, the only other U.S. producer, is more insulated from the policy since its owner, Corning, purchases its solar-grade polysilicon to produce wafers domestically.
Still, the proclamation authorizes Commerce to offer incentives for companies that invest in U.S. polysilicon production, but they must be negotiated on a company-specific basis.
Munich-based Wacker’s German and American operations have been struggling with Chinese competition. Wacker cut jobs at the $2.5 billion Charleston plant last year, and CEO Christian Hartel warned investors days before the proclamation that the company could have “one plant too many” if the expected trade action was not beneficial.
Reporting by Alexandra Alper and Nichola Groom; editing by Chris Sanders and Nick Zieminski
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
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