When President Trump sat down with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit last week, the conversation was between two leaders with opposing views on the future.
While Xi was doubling down on clean energy industries that will power the 21st century, Trump was doubling down on dirty fossil fuels that belong to the last one. In that contrast lies the story of how Trump is surrendering America’s manufacturing future.
Trump may claim climate change is “the greatest con,” but the real con is his archaic approach to energy production. While Xi announces innovative new climate targets and continues to invest billions into dominating the global supply chains for solar, wind, batteries and electric cars, Trump is moving in the opposite direction. By gutting investments in clean technologies and shuttering existing clean energy projects, he’s ceding global economic leadership to China. American workers and their families will bear the brunt of the consequences.
Many of today’s clean energy technologies were pioneered in the United States. However, years of political back-and-forth left these industries without steady support. China didn’t make the same mistake. For decades, it has facilitated long-term investment in its clean-tech industry. Today, China produces 80 percent of the world’s solar panels, 60 percent of all wind turbines, and 70 percent of all EVs.
The payoff is clear: Chinese firms now dominate global production of clean energy. And thanks to their scale, the costs of those technologies have plummeted worldwide.
Global demand for fossil fuels is declining, and it’s projected to continue doing so for decades. Meanwhile, demand for renewable technology is exploding, with some estimates predicting that installed renewable energy will double by 2030. Simply put, clean energy is the fastest, most affordable way to power growing economies. Countries from Brazil to India are rushing to join the transition — and they’re turning to China for the equipment. In fact, Beijing has already signed clean-energy cooperation agreements with 40 countries across the Global South. And every deal struck is another missed opportunity for American manufacturing.
Still, despite clear warning signs, the U.S. economic policy has remained stubbornly focused on fossil fuel investments for the last three decades. The Biden administration sought to finally shift the priority with the Inflation Reduction Act, which quadrupled U.S. clean energy manufacturing investment and brought good-paying jobs to rural communities that had been written off. Those gains are being reversed.
Since returning to the Oval Office, Trump has rolled back regulations on oil, gas and coal while cutting billions from renewable energy research and development. He calls the programs meant to boost clean energy jobs a “green new scam.”
The real scam is pretending fossil fuels are America’s ticket to prosperity in a global economy that’s already moving on. By retreating, Trump is setting America up to lose the industries of the future — the ones that could revitalize our industrial base and provide steady, high-paying jobs to the communities that need them most.
What does this mean for Americans? Unfortunately, the answer is all too familiar: towns hollowed by factory closures and abandoned industrial investment as the United States once again walks away from meaningful manufacturing development. While Trump hoists the cost of propping up coal onto American households, China is busy flooding the market with cheap, clean energy technologies — technologies American innovators pioneered.
Tariffs alone can’t solve this growing imbalance. Every time this administration slashes funding for clean energy, it hands Beijing another advantage and undermines the American workforce.
The next president will need to turn this around fast. It will mean doing what Trump refuses to do: investing in American clean energy manufacturing and helping American manufacturers do their job. We need legislation that supports U.S. factories — from battery plants in Michigan to solar panel production in Ohio — and creates good jobs. We need trade policies at home and in collaboration with other nations that push back against China’s willingness to flood the market and crush competition. Falling behind leaves the U.S. dependent on foreign suppliers, which weakens our ability to respond to crises, equip our military and maintain strategic independence in an increasingly volatile world. We need to stop treating clean energy like a political football and approach it appropriately — as a matter of national security, economic survival and industrial pride.
This isn’t about left or right. It’s about whether American workers will build the industries of the future — industries we helped launch — or let our government hand them over to our biggest competitor. For too long, American workers have been promised the return of good-paying, steady jobs, while they watch factories close and opportunities disappear.
Clean energy isn’t a silver bullet, but it’s one of the clearest chances to put the assembly line on home turf — with Americans designing and building the technologies the world needs. We had that chance in hand less than a year ago. We can do it again.