Former State Department Appointee Suggests Xinjiang Polysilicon Could Be Government Target
A former Trump political appointee said that he believes the concentration of solar panel making and inputs in China is a major concern for the U.S. as it looks to an energy transition, and suggested the campaign against blood diamonds could be a model for how to deal with human rights abuses alleged in the production of polysilicon in China's Xinjiang province. That campaign relied on traders' desire to avoid reputational risk, and self-policing among distributors. But Keith Krach, formerly State Department undersecretary for economic growth, energy and the environment from 2019 to the end of the Trump administration, also suggested that a forced labor ban could be a future action.
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Krach, who was interviewed at the Center for Strategic and International Studies April 26, said that in a few decades, the projection is that 50% to 70% of our energy will be provided by solar energy. “If we go from energy abundance to energy dependence on China, that’s a national security issue,” he said. He said that currently, 90% of solar panels are made in China, and said that the vast majority of the polysilicon used to make panels is sourced from “Xinjiang, the same place we said, 'We're not going to buy your cotton.'”
Krach alleged that $700 monthly wages for workers making solar panels is possible because of “slave labor of the Uighurs. We can’t compete with that in the U.S.” He also argued that the panels are made at plants that use coal-fired electricity, and that the energy cost to manufacture them is equivalent to three years' worth of their energy production once installed. He said he thinks allies could be convinced to choose to avoid Chinese polysilicon.