Musk Visits China with Trump; NYT: Solar Equipment Exports Blocked

Tesla CEO Elon Musk accompanied US President Donald Trump on his visit to China on the 13th. The New York Times reported today, citing informed sources, that this was because the Chinese government has blocked Suzhou Maxwell Technologies from exporting nearly $3 billion worth of high-end solar manufacturing equipment to Tesla. There is currently no indication that Musk's trip has achieved success. The NYT reported that US CEOs accompanying Trump last week are trying to appease both the Trump administration and the Chinese government, acutely aware that support from either side could determine their company's success. The report described the trip as being taken with 'various business complaints about doing business in China.' A source who requested anonymity said that in recent weeks, the Chinese government has blocked Suzhou Maxwell from exporting high-end solar equipment to Tesla. As part of its solar and energy storage business, Tesla has been hoping to purchase nearly $3 billion worth of manufacturing equipment from Suzhou Maxwell to produce products that further the transition to sustainable energy and bring about 100 gigawatts (GW) of solar capacity to the US. The source stated that Musk's visit to China was in hopes of unblocking these exports. There is no sign of success yet. Musk and Tesla did not respond to requests for comment. A spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in the US responded that they were not aware of the specific situation, but that China welcomes foreign companies to conduct business as long as they comply with laws and regulations. NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang also joined the trip on Air Force One. The report mentioned that China has not yet approved the purchase of NVIDIA's H200 chips, despite the US government approving their sale to major Chinese tech firms like Alibaba, Tencent, and ByteDance earlier this year. The report also noted that semiconductor firm Coherent has struggled to obtain indium phosphide, a material exported by China necessary for data center photonic chips. Last year, after Trump imposed tariffs on China, China lifted an export ban on biotech firm Illumina, but the company remains on China's 'unreliable entity list,' meaning some of its products cannot be purchased in China without government approval. The report also mentioned that Chinese officials have blocked Meta's acquisition of AI company Manus due to concerns about AI expertise leaving China. Last year, China launched an antitrust investigation into Qualcomm. Additionally, China determined that products from Micron, also in the delegation, posed security risks, meaning Micron cannot sell to certain Chinese companies involved in critical infrastructure. Other issues include Boeing not achieving substantial aircraft sales in China over the last decade; Visa not obtaining a license to independently settle credit card transactions in RMB; and Blackrock facing opposition from the Chinese government in its attempt to acquire dozens of ports from CK Hutchison in Hong Kong. 'They are there to solve specific bottlenecks,' said Alison Szalwinski, vice president of the Washington consulting firm The Asia Group, regarding the US CEOs. She pointed out that some companies are facing licensing issues, market access, and supply chain approvals, all being handled on a case-by-case basis. 'Many of them are hoping to make progress on a few of these issues.' The report says multinational companies trying to do business in both countries often become victims of US-China geopolitical tensions. The Chinese government takes some measures to protect its own companies from foreign competitors, while others are in response to tariffs, sanctions, or penalties imposed by the US on Chinese companies.