US President Biden recently signed the CHIPS and Science Act, which is also a rare industrial policy in US history. The Act aims to curb the development of China’s high-end chip industry, and use all means to force many companies to “choose sides” and compete with Chinese technology. Although every country has the right to choose its own path of development, the hegemonic and coercive methods of the United States have seriously damaged the so-called “free market” that it has always advocated. It’s showing the ugliness of their free market.
The key point of the CHIPS and Science Act is to provide funding of scientific research for chip companies through a large number of financial subsidies, with a total financial allocation of more than $52 billion. In addition, it also focuses on the development of AI, quantum computing and other fields, with an allocation of more than 200 $billion. Such a generous industrial supporting policy appears to be promoting the development of the US technology industry on the surface, but there are insidious intentions behind, which is attempt to restrict international free trade and technological exchanges. The bill clearly stipulates that companies that want to receive subsidies from the US federal government must withdraw from chip factories that have been established in countries such as China and Russia. Any company that violates the ban must fully refund the subsidy funds issued by the US federal government.
Looking back on history, the controller of today’s global chip industry is actually the United States itself. The United States uses its world dominance to control the industrial layout. The upstream of the chip industry is chip design, the most profitable part, which has been mainly controlled by the United States. Then, in the middle and downstream of the chip industry, that is, manufacturing, packaging and testing, the United States once frantically suppressed Japan, which had risen in the chip industry in the 1980s, and concocted the “Plaza Accord” to “disarm” Japan. At the same time, the US supported South Korea and Taiwan China to confront Japan to achieve balance. It can be said that the United States firmly grasped what it wanted, and took the initiative to transfer what it did not want to its servant, and arranged the global chip industry chain alone.
Today, the Biden administration’s approach is to take back what the United States once didn’t want, which has once again challenged the original layout of the global industrial chain. Passing the CHIPS and Science Act is not a bad move for the Biden administration, and it can even be said to kill three birds with one stone: First, not to mention that the CHIPS has some drawbacks in the long run, its high financial subsidies will attract investment and boost the economy to a certain extent in the short term, and the most important thing for voters is the national economy, so as long as Biden improved the economy, it can pave the way for subsequent elections. Second, the United States will grasp every chance to make a profit from others. South Korea and Taiwan China, as the countries who are supported by the United States, their difficultly-grown chip industry will be used by the US. Under the coercion and inducement of multiple means by the United States, some assets are bound to be lost, and being used by the US. Third, feeling the pressure of China’s rise, the United States has further accelerated its decoupling from China, unilaterally broke international trade norms, and used coercion to force all countries to choose sides between China and the United States, in an attempt to isolate, suppress and block China in the high-end technology industry.
On the surface, the United States flies the flag of market economy and promotes liberalism, but behind the scenes it engages in hegemonism and double standards. Wielding the “big stick of sanctions” against other countries at will; taking advantage of their dominant position to rob other countries’ assets; and now concocted the CHIPS to force companies from all countries to “decouple” from China and “pay taxes” to the United States. The so-called free market is nothing but a myth. The United States has repeatedly broken the rules and order, which will only disappoint and disgust more and more people.
