Chinese Bitcoin Mining Firms Build U.S. Factories to Avoid 20% Tariffs
Chinese mining rig giants Bitmain, Canaan, and MicroBT are launching U.S. production plants to bypass 20% tariffs to lower costs and serve growing American bitcoin mining demand.
Three Chinese companies that manufacture over 90% of the world's bitcoin mining machines are opening factories in the United States, Reuters reports. Bitmain, Canaan, and MicroBT want to avoid the 20% extra tariffs President Trump placed on Chinese imports.
Bitmain started production at its U.S. assembly line in December 2024, one month after Trump won re-election. Canaan began trial production in the U.S. after Trump announced the tariffs on April 2. MicroBT confirmed it has an “active localization strategy” to reduce tariff costs.
The companies control a sector that analysts expect to reach $12 billion by 2028. This includes mining hardware, energy operations, and IT infrastructure. American competitors like Auradine, backed by MARA Holdings, say the imbalance creates problems. More than 30% of global mining power operates in North America, but over 90% of hardware comes from China.
The U.S. set a 10% baseline tariff on many imports this year, plus the extra 20% on Chinese goods. Officials have suggested even higher duties for Southeast Asian assembly plants that Chinese firms use. Despite the new U.S. facilities, miners will still buy equipment from China in the short term, keeping costs high.
Related: Trump’s Tariffs and Crypto: PitchBook Weighs the Real Risk Ahead
Industry Reacts: A Mix of Strategy, Costs, and Security
The U.S.-China trade war is triggering structural, not superficial, changes in bitcoin's supply chains,
This goes beyond tariffs. It's a strategic pivot toward ‘politically acceptable' hardware sources.
said Guang Yang, CTO at Conflux Network.
Canaan vice president Leo Wang said the company wants “to try to reduce the cost for both us and our customers. The prospect of tariffs means we have to explore all alternatives.”
Sanjay Gupta, chief strategy officer at Auradine, called Chinese equipment a security risk. “Hundreds of thousands of Chinese rigs connected to the U.S. grid represent a security risk,” he said. Auradine is lobbying to restrict Chinese hardware imports.
Read on: Nvidia’s Blackwell-Based AI Chip Targets Chinese Market Under U.S. Compliance
Background
China banned domestic crypto activity in 2021, but hardware makers kept their market share by focusing on manufacturing. Canaan moved its headquarters to Singapore and set up a U.S. pilot line after the ban. The U.S. accounts for 40% of Canaan's revenue in 2024.Bitmain's AI affiliate Sophgo was blacklisted by Washington on security grounds, showing broader concerns about Chinese technology companies.
Also read: How Military Conflict Could Impact Bitcoin Mining in Iran
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