President sees USA well equipped for current challenges.
Following the shooting down of a suspected spy balloon, relations between the two great powers China and the United States are currently very tense. Even before that, the United States had made it its declared goal to cut off the People’s Republic from the supply of US-made computer chips. This is intended to secure the country’s own technological lead and cement China’s regression. Notwithstanding this, US President Joe Biden again emphasized yesterday in the annual State of the Union Address that competition was being sought, not conflict. But he said he would not apologize for investing in the future of the United States and in the industries that determined that future.
The president did not specify which industries, but he was probably referring to the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which is intended to support the energy and transportation transition through massive subsidies, and the CHIPS and Science Act, a law designed to promote the semiconductor industry. China intends to dominate these industries, he said, which must be prevented so that this high technology cannot be used against the United States.
U.S. lags in commodity race, government adviser says
Meanwhile, when it comes to the supply of raw materials such as rare earths needed for wind power, electric vehicles and the like, the U.S. is currently lagging well behind, according to Special Coordinator for Energy Security Amos Hochstein, in part because there has been a lack of appropriate investment, he told CNBC. Diversification from mining to manufacturing is imperative, and this must be done in cooperation with allied nations. Hochstein nevertheless resists the notion that the U.S. is being held hostage by China in terms of raw material supplies. The country is simply doing what it thinks is right to advance the energy transition in its own country, he said, and the U.S. must take its cue from that. With the IRA, an important foundation has been laid.
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