Europe's only producer said it is 'assessing' the impact
The US is levying tariffs on a refined mineral used in solar panels and high-tech chips, escalating a trade feud with China while hitting a German firm in the crossfire.
A few hours south of Berlin, Germany’s Wacker Chemie is bucking China’s global stranglehold on polysilicon, with Wacker focusing on high-purity ‘poly’ for chips.
Access to the material is considered a national security priority, Donald Trump argued, as he imposed overnight a sweeping 15% tariff on raw polysilicon and solar panels.
The US share in global poly production had dropped from 50% in 2005 to less than 2% in 2024, he added. China, meanwhile, has a market share of some 95%. In 2023, the US imported $53 million of poly from Germany and just $17 million’s worth from China.
