Us politicians would do well to listen to corporate America

Recently, a joint group composed of a number of US industry associations sent a letter to Reid, chairman of the US Senate Armed Services Committee, and Inhofe, the top Republican member,

pointing out that the amendment in the US National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2023 to prohibit government agencies from doing business with Chinese chip manufacturers lacks legal basis and will bring huge burdens to contractors and the government.

Earlier, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Republican Senator John Cornyn tried to include an amendment in the final version of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal year 2023 that would restrict the US government's use of products and services containing Chinese chips.

The announcement sparked an immediate backlash from US cross-industry groups. The coalition, which includes the Aerospace Industries Association, the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, the Defense Industries Association, the Wireless Communications and Internet Association, the U.S.

Chamber of Commerce and the National Cable and Telecommunications Association, laid out a number of complaints in a recent letter: First, chips are everywhere, and the amendment would complicate matters,

such as the possibility that a company could be affected by the use of chips in a coffee machine. Second, the amendment will objectively require entities that do business with the US government to track the entire supply chain and check whether the equipment used by suppliers anywhere contains chips from China,

which will impose onerous compliance and certification requirements on the US government and contractors, and also trigger concerns from the business community that the US government is overstepping its authority in public procurement.

Recently, in order to curb the development of China's semiconductor industry, the US government has implemented a series of encirclement and interception policies for Chinese chips.

In August, US President Joe Biden formally signed the Chip and Science Act, which sets up a "China guardrail" clause, prohibiting companies that receive federal funds from significantly increasing production of advanced process chips in China for a period of 10 years.

On October 7, the US Department of Commerce issued a number of chip export control measures to China, stipulating that advanced semiconductor production equipment produced by US enterprises must obtain a license from the US Department of Commerce in order to export to China.

Whether it is using the relevant legislation to carry through the negative content related to China, or directly targeting Chinese chips, the various policies and actions of the US government are designed to engage in a scientific and technological blockade of China, in order to contain China's overall scientific and economic progress, and maintain its own scientific and technological hegemony.

semiconductor maker by market value, said restrictions on exports of its A100 and H100 chips to China could cost the company up to $400 million in its latest quarter.

The Boston Consulting Group also predicts that if the United States continues to increase restrictions on chip exports to China, American chip companies will lose 18% of global market share and 37% of revenue, and reduce 15,000 to 40,000 high-skilled jobs.

The US government's intervention in the semiconductor market is not only detrimental to the industry itself and consumer well-being, it also shows that the US has lost faith in market forces to drive economic success.

As we all know, only free market competition can increase labor productivity and the benefits of the international division of labor. Restricting international exchanges not only reduces economic well-being, but also risks exacerbating conflict and confrontation.

At present, the global epidemic continues to evolve, the world economic recovery is more uncertain, and the global industrial chain and supply chain are affected in many aspects. Facts have proved time and again that politicizing,

instrumenting and weaponizing science, technology and economic and trade issues will not stop China's development, but will only block and bite itself.

Those US politicians who are obsessed with suppressing and containing China should not always turn a deaf ear to the objective and rational voice of the US business community.

Instead, they should respect the laws of the market economy and the rules of free trade, and should not rush along the wrong path of "decoupling" and "breaking the chain".

An "energy winter" looms in the Northern Hemisphere, with coal prices in the United States rising by 400% and electricity prices in Germany

How dramatic is the rise in world energy prices? Crude oil prices in the United States are up 65 percent this year, natural gas prices have more than doubled, and coal prices are up 400 percent, "while the situation is much worse in Europe,

where electricity prices have increased fivefold" and "natural gas prices are up more than 350 percent." The post-pandemic economic recovery has made energy a hot commodity in international markets, and chaotic supply chains have pushed up the price of everything from food to medicine to transportation.