Industrial Policy, Trade, and Clean Energy Supply Chains

Examining forces that could hold back the deployment of clean energy technologies and their implications for U.S. national security

Issue
 

Growing trade tensions between the United States and China—coupled with new resistance to the forces of globalization—have increased global competition and national security concerns.
 
As a result, new national industrial policies across various industries, including clean energy, have emerged along with more ambitious climate agendas. It is still uncertain whether deep-decarbonization targets and climate policy that prioritizes domestic economic and political gains will deliver an increase in the pace and scale of climate investment and technology deployment as desired. 

Moreover, new government measures to prevent clean energy-related threats to national security or protect domestic industry, such as raising tariffs and trade barriers, could increase the cost of deploying clean energy technology. This could alter the timeframe for making renewable energy less competitive compared to fossil fuels in some applications, causing slower global decarbonization.
 

The project
 

This project is investigating factors that could restrain the deployment of clean energy technologies for the purposes of decarbonization. It will provide policy and strategy recommendations to avoid trade conflicts and prioritize decarbonization while addressing U.S. competitiveness, national security, and trade concerns.
 
This project is made possible by support from the Climate Imperative Foundation, the Hewlett Foundation, and general funding to the CSIS Energy Security and Climate Change Program.
 

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Reshore, Reroute, Rebalance: A U.S. Strategy for Clean Energy Supply Chains

As clean energy deployment accelerates, so does the need to think strategically about this system. In doing so, the United States can apply some of the policies used to pursue energy security in the hydrocarbon era, adapting them to the needs of a low-carbon world.

Report by Jane Nakano, Sarah Ladislaw, Nikos Tsafos, and Lachlan Carey — May 19, 2021

Industrial Policy, Trade, and Clean Energy Supply Chains

Solar, wind and batteries are now mainstream thanks largely to government support. But their development has created numerous trade disputes; and China has built a commanding position in these value chains.

Report by Sarah Ladislaw, Ethan Zindler, Jane Nakano, Nikos Tsafos, Lachlan Carey, Logan Goldie-Scot, Pol Lezcano, and Jenny Chase — February 24, 2021