Key facts
- A Tennessee factory producing polysilicon for chips and solar panels is at risk of closure.
- The facility, operated by Germany's Wacker Chemie, employs about 600 workers.
- The Trump administration's new trade measures have reportedly caused the loss of the factory's two remaining customers.
- Wacker stated the current trade policy does not effectively support the use of U.S.-made polysilicon.
- The measures, taking effect in December, include a price floor and tariff on inbound polysilicon products.
A factory in Tennessee that produces polysilicon, a key component for semiconductors and solar panels, is facing potential closure due to trade measures enacted by the Trump administration. The measures, intended to safeguard the U.S. chip supply chain, have reportedly led Wacker Chemie, the German owner of the facility, to lose its two remaining customers.
Sources familiar with the matter indicated that Wacker will decide on the future of its Charleston, Tennessee, plant, which employs approximately 600 workers, in the coming weeks. The company has stated that the current proclamation does not effectively support the use of U.S.-made polysilicon and is engaged in discussions with the administration. The policy, set to take effect in December, imposes a price floor and tariffs on imported polysilicon products but treats materials from China and the U.S. equally, maintaining a disadvantage for more expensive American polysilicon.
Industry advocates, such as the Coalition for a Prosperous America, argue that the rules need a clearer signal to prioritize domestic polysilicon to prevent ceding ground to foreign competitors like China, which they deem a national security threat. Analysts, however, are skeptical that the tariffs, as currently structured, will increase demand for U.S. polysilicon. Wacker's CEO had previously warned of having "one plant too many" if the expected trade actions were not beneficial, and the company has already cut jobs at the $2.5 billion Charleston plant.