By Jeff Ferry, CPA Chief Economist Millions of people stuck at home are now using the Zoom videoconferencing application. Zoom claims 300 million daily users. But how many of those 300 million know that Zoom is a product that is made in China? Early this month, news emerged that Zoom software, produced by Zoom Video…
By Jeff Ferry, CPA Research Director Industrial espionage has been going on for centuries, but experts agree China’s espionage campaign is on a different scale from anything we’ve seen in history. It has been going on at least since the 1990s and there is no sign it is letting up. Targets include an incredibly broad…
By Jeff Ferry, CPA Research Director After opposing tariffs on imported solar cells and modules for years, and claiming the US manufacture of solar cells would never be profitable, San Jose, California-based SunPower Corporation announced last week plans…to become a leading US manufacturer of solar cells and modules. Last Wednesday, SunPower said it’s buying SolarWorld…
By Jeff Ferry, CPA Research Director SolarWorld Americas is ramping production of solar cells at its Hillsboro, Oregon facility. CEO Juergen Stein tells us that the company is aiming to add another 300 employees before year’s end, which would bring its total US workforce to 600 people. “We are already hiring,” Stein said. “We are…
By Jeff Ferry, CPA Research Director The Trump administration’s rumored Section 301 investigation of Chinese trade practices opens up a new front in the ongoing “trade wars” with China, this time over intellectual property. A key event driving concern over Chinese use or abuse of foreign intellectual property was China’s publication of an ambitious industrial…