By Haley Zaremba – Jun 27, 2026, 4:00 PM CDT
- Chinese photovoltaic cell exports to the US surged 346 percent year on year last month, with lithium-ion battery exports up 20.8 percent and lead-acid batteries up 151 percent.
- The Iran war’s disruption of the Strait of Hormuz is pushing countries toward clean energy for energy security, and China controls most of that supply chain.
- Warmer US-China trade relations following Trump’s Beijing visit are accelerating the flow of cheap Chinese solar and battery components into American clean energy projects.
China’s clean energy dominance is growing. Buoyed by the skyrocketing energy needs and future projected demands of the artificial intelligence boom, clean energy projects are getting greenlit at a breakneck pace. And those projects depend on cheap Chinese clean energy components, as Beijing has near-total control of global supply chains for clean energy tech including solar panels and lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles as well as energy storage systems. As a result, Chinese clean energy exports are going gangbusters in virtually every corner of the globe, from the poorest counties in the Global South to the richest nation in the world.
Despite the Trump administration’s best efforts to put America first when it comes to energy production, customs data from last month shows that exports of clean energies from China to the United States are growing at a rapid clip. Exports of the photovoltaic cells that make up solar panels surged 346 per cent year on year to reach US$39.96 million, lithium-ion batteries rose 20.8 per cent year on year to reach US$780 million, and export values of lead-acid batteries increased 151 per cent year on year to reach US$6.72 million, according to figures from the South China Morning Post.
A recent report from nonpartisan news outlet Semafor remarks that this development is a reflection of several factors: improved diplomacy between the U.S. and China, hyperscalers, and the war in Iran.
Set OilPrice.com as a preferred source in Google here.
The United States’ and Israel’s war in Iran has caused enormous and potentially permanent shifts in global supply chains and international energy security strategies. Before the war began in February, one-fifth of the world’s crude oil and oil products flowed from the Middle East through the Strait of Hormuz to reach shipping lanes to the rest of the globe. The overnight closure of the Strait has led to extreme turmoil in global oil and gas markets, leaving import-dependent nations extremely vulnerable to price shocks and supply shortages.
But for China, the war in Iran has represented a golden opportunity. The precarity of oil and gas supplies on the global market has catalyzed the clean energy transition as countries around the world buy up solar panels and battery packs as fast as they can to build up energy independence and resilience. And that means that the whole world is now depending on China to supply their clean energy revolution.
“This is part of a longer trend, not just an immediate response to higher oil and gas prices,” said Yang Biqing, a China analyst at London-based energy think tank Ember, in an interview with the Washington Post. “Energy security is becoming more important on governments’ agenda, and the shift toward clean energy is increasingly being seen as something that can reinforce energy security.”
The war has therefore changed the calculus on global geopolitics, and has incentivized better cooperation between the Trump administration and Xi Jinping. Trump traveled to Beijing last month to restabilize US-China trade relations between the world’s largest economies and to shore up political stability against the backdrop of conflict and oil market chaos. This already seems to be working in China’s favor, as the flow of Chinese energy components into the United States has surged. This is good news for green energy operators in the United States as well, as Chinese-manufactured clean energy components are much more affordable than those produced elsewhere.
And new energy projects are more critical than ever in the United States as the tech sector continues to drive energy demand projections into the stratosphere. The United States’ “insatiable appetite for energy to sustain its expanding AI infrastructure” has pushed the adoption of an ‘all-of-the-above’ approach to energy development that strongly features renewables and nuclear power. Despite the political headwinds faced by renewable energy in the United States, solar power is (ironically) booming under Trump. A thawing of trade relations with China will only supercharge that trend.
By Haley Zaremba for Oilprice.com
More Top Reads From Oilprice.com
- China’s Crude Imports Set to Hit Weakest Level Since 2016
- Lithium Prices Tumble As Traders Brace For CATL Supply Surge
- AI Demand, War, and Climate Pressure Push World Back To Nuclear
Download The Free Oilprice App Today
