Consequences don’t ask permission, they show up, they slap you across the face, and they tell you you’ve been stupid and acted incompetently. Any denial of the veracity of the insult will result in more consequences, which can quickly turn into a comedy sketch of slapity slap slap slap. I believe that the consequences of the Trump administration’s immigration policies and practices are manifesting. The most recent slap across the face and the implied insult comes from the fallout of the September 4th 2025 ICE raid on the Hyundai factory in Georgia.
The ICE raid in Georgia resulted in the detention and deportation of South Korean robotics and automation specialists working for Mobis, an affiliate of Hyundai. These workers’ expertise is essential for American car manufacturing, not just for Hyundai but also Ford, General Motors, and a Kia plant in Georgia. The South Korean people seeing their fellow countrymen shackled and chained, penalized for offering their expertise to American companies, seeing the dignity of their nation and countrymen harmed for investing in and assisting the American economy, are understandably offended.
Their offense coincides in South Korea with open public discussion, news coverage, interviews of the individuals who were detained and deported, and the promise of government investigations and potential litigation by the massive deep pocket South Korean companies [Christ Norlund. (Sept 16, 2025). Unhinged MAGA LOSES BILLIONS at Hyundai. Retrieved: https://youtu.be/st-RLBlSHl8?si=wVZ43BmEuSv07xw6]. To put it in terms that I think most Americans will understand, the South Korean people have said in a unified voice, ‘oh hell no’.
With the South Korean people’s offense comes a reevaluation of their position, particularly should they bother to continue to invest in the United States?
Why bother sending workers overseas if they’re going to be mistreated? If the United States isn’t going to treat their South Korean allies with fairness and dignity, it would seem better for South Koreans to work with their other allies who treat them with more respect. It’s not just that they’re human beings who want to feel appreciated, they’re a sovereign nation who has a clear interest in protecting the rights of their citizens.
While this might seem mere speculation on my part, the impact of the September 4th ICE raid in Georgia is already setting in and affecting U.S. operations and economic interests. General Motors and LG Energy Solutions operate a “$2.3 billion joint venture to produce low-cost battery cells” in Spring Hill, Tennessee.
The Tennessean reports:
“In the aftermath of the Sept. 4 raid, Korean employees at the company’s Spring Hill, Tenn. operation left the U.S., citing growing concerns over visa status and legal uncertainty, according to a Reuters report.”.
“That operation has impacted auto manufacturing operations in Tennessee. Located on the General Motors’ Spring Hill production site, Ultium Cells — a joint venture between the country’s largest automaker and LG Energy Solutions — has felt the ripple effect.”
“Ultium Cells faces an exodus of its Korean workforce as GM and other second-tier suppliers are already laying off employees amid a shifting economic outlook for the auto industry.
Last week, the General Motors Spring Hill plant announced the company would be furloughing roughly half of its 1,400 shift workers as it rolls back production of its electric vehicles.”
[Stuart Dyos. (Sept 12th, 2025). Korean workers at Spring Hill factory leave U.S. following immigration raid in Georgia. Retrieved: https://www.tennessean.com/story/money/cars/2025/09/12/south-korean-factory-workers-flee-spring-hill-tennessee-hyundai-raid/86096234007/]
But this event isn’t just causing South Koreans to reevaluate their relationship with the United States, but also the other foreign countries which the United States car manufacturing industry is dependent upon.
The industrial robots that perform tasks like welding, painting, and assembly in American auto plants are almost exclusively designed and manufactured by a handful of foreign companies. Primarily from South Korea, Japan, Germany, and Switzerland.
Each of these are nations whose people are confused and concerned by the Trump administration’s approach to immigration and trade, and its disrespect to the United States long-standing allies. One can find multiple press releases from government officials and news articles from media outlets confirming that these countries are not impressed and growing increasingly intolerant of the Trump administration’s antics.
“For Germans, the first 100 days of President Donald Trump’s administration have felt like a brutal, multipronged assault on all three pillars of the bilateral relationship with the United States: trade, security, and shared values.”
“And [at the Munich conference] when Vance openly criticized the exclusion of populist parties—specifically naming Germany’s far-right AfD—and subsequently privately met AfD leader Alice Weidel, this was broadly perceived in Berlin as a breach of sovereignty and interference in German domestic politics.
Incoming chancellor Friedrich Merz described the Munich conference as a ‘historic date’ and responded by articulating a new strategic doctrine: step-by-step European independence from the United States—a significant concession from a lifelong staunch transatlanticist.” [Sophia Besch. (April 24, 2025). Germany’s Reaction to Trump Is Another Paradigm Shift. Retrieved: https://carnegieendowment.org/emissary/2025/04/germany-trump-nato-ukraine-defense-zeitenwende?lang=en]
“The austere economic measures may have sparked further public disapproval of the United States and antagonism toward Trump. According to a YouGov Survey, fielded March 6-24, 2025, a majority (69%) of Danish, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Swedish, and British publics support retaliatory tariffs against the United States.” [Tim O’Brien. (July 17, 2025). A Crisis in Confidence: European Public Opinion in the Trump Era. https://globalaffairs.org/commentary-and-analysis/blogs/crisis-confidence-european-public-opinion-trump-era].
“‘I am quite sure that Trump tariffs will be pushing these [Asian] countries closer to China,’ the former Japanese official said. ‘In a sense, the tariffs are the greatest geopolitical gift to China. The tariffs would erode decadeslong efforts to pull these countries closer to the West.’”
“Japan, a treaty ally and the United States’ fourth-largest trading partner, is larger and more independent, economically and politically, from China than many of its Southeast Asian neighbors. But the relationship with Tokyo remains crucial to curbing Beijing’s influence in the Asia-Pacific. And Trump’s seeming disregard for the long history of cooperation between Washington and Tokyo, as well as between Washington and Seoul risks fraying ties with both capitals, said Tami Overby, a partner at DGA-Albright Stonebridge Group who advises businesses on trade issues in South Korea.” [Arik Hawkins. (July 8, 2025). ’Shock. Frustration. Anger.’ Trump’s tariff letters roil Asian allies. https://www.politico.com/news/2025/07/08/trumps-tariff-letters-roil-asian-allies-00443008].
“Oguma in a speech during a parliamentary committee hearing told Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya that the nation should resist Trump’s demands, likening the U.S. approach as a ‘delinquent kid extorting someone,’ according to a Times of India translation.”
“‘If Japan listens to this and bends the other way in response to the impossible demands of bargaining and deals, it will set a bad example as a customary and historical precedent,’ Oguma said. ‘If you get mugged and put money in their hands, they will come back to mug us.’”
“Oguma called Trump’s tariff formula ‘a mess’ and questioned if it was ‘safe for a serious person to go there’ and negotiate with the U.S.
‘Consider every option, but you should never make concessions to someone who is not straight up anyway,’ Oguma said, adding: ‘I hope that you will never give in to the American extortionists. I know this is harsh to say, but they are extortionists.’” [Peter Aitken. (Apr 18, 2025). Trump Tariffs Like ‘Delinquent Kid Extorting Somebody’—Japanese Lawmaker. https://www.newsweek.com/trump-tariffs-delinquent-kid-extorting-somebody-japanese-lawmaker-2061460]
“‘Switzerland has always thought it had good relations with the U.S., therefore being singled out is a shock to the identity of Switzerland,’ said Hans Gersbach, the co-director of the KOF Swiss Economic Institute at the ETH Zurich university. “It’s a deeper shock beyond economics.’”
“Global instability has forced Switzerland into a contentious debate over how best to position itself for the future.
There are those who want Switzerland to double-down on independence while others favor even greater alignment with the EU. Switzerland already has more than 100 bilateral deals with Brussels and adopted about 70% of EU laws, Mazzoleni said, speaking by phone.
This debate was hanging over Swiss politics even before Trump’s tariffs shock.” [Cain Burdeau. (Sept 5, 2025). Trump tariffs leave small Switzerland exposed in an age of instability. Retrieved: https://www.courthousenews.com/trump-tariffs-leave-small-switzerland-exposed-in-an-age-of-instability/]
Trump just recently on September 23rd 2025 went to the UN, telling UN nations that “Your countries are going to hell”.
Trump stated, “Immigration and the high cost of so-called green renewable energy is destroying a large part of the free world and a large part of our planet”.
Meanwhile, China, having invested heavily in solar and other renewable energy, has far more energy capacity in its electrical grid than the United States and it is going to be able to leverage that to get ahead in the race for AI.
The export restrictions of Nvidia chips to China has forced the Chinese to invest in developing homegrown AI compute solutions, like the Ascend NPU. While China’s homegrown GPU and NPU solutions aren’t quite at the same level as Nvidia’s latest and greatest, they are competent offerings. China also has something that the United States doesn’t have, that robust energy grid with low energy costs.
Chinese tech behemoth Huawei recently unveiled its SuperPoD Ascend NPU AI compute clusters. The SuperPoD clusters essentially take a very large number of GPUs or NPUs and connect them using a proprietary, high-speed interconnect technology that Huawei was able to develop due to being a world leader in telecommunications – a domain in which Huawei exceeds Nvidia’s competence. While a single Ascend NPU is less powerful than a top-tier Nvidia H100 GPU, Huawei’s interconnect technology allows them to scale clusters to a massive size, overcoming the individual chip’s deficit through sheer numbers and superior networking.
Thereby SuperPoDs can deliver equivalent or greater compute power compared to AI compute clusters in Western nations using the latest Nvidia chipsets. Because China has invested in renewable energy sources, and gotten its energy costs down, China can offer AI compute at the same or lower prices despite using more energy to feed the larger numbers of clustered GPUs and NPUs [Ruben Tek. (Sept 18, 2025). Huawei’s REVENGE: New ‘Super Pod’ System Will CRUSH Nvidia’s Next-Gen AI Chips. Retrieved: https://youtu.be/Kmj6VZXEJl0?si=b19Y3HRsFChmqOiG].
Thereby the advantage the U.S. and its allies gain from using the latest Nvidia chipsets is essentially nullified. Chinese leadership have in response to this technological development essentially banned Chinese companies from leveraging the Nvidia stack, which closes the market to Nvidia. Not only is China going to be able to work in whatever direction it wants with AI now, and do so at a competitive level, but it does so by closing its market to the United States while opening its AI stack to the entire world, because that stack is Open-Source unlike the closed systems Nvidia, OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google offer.
And unlike the United States, China has invested in renewable energy sources which allow it to continue to make its energy grid increasingly more robust. Meanwhile the United States is essentially betting that it can figure out some technological miracle, like developing sustainable commercially viable fusion energy or some type of easy and safe to deploy nuclear fission. The U.S. is struggling to bring new power plants online, with projects often taking over a decade to approve and build. In contrast, China is adding approximately 200 gigawatts of new solar capacity annually—more than the total operational capacity of the entire U.S. solar industry.
MIT Technology Review reports:
“China is on an absolute tear installing wind and solar power. The country reached nearly 900 gigawatts of installed capacity for solar at the end of 2024, and the rapid pace of building has continued into this year. An additional 198 GW was installed between January and May, with 93 GW coming in May alone.” [Casey Crownhart. (July 10, 2025). China’s energy dominance in three charts. Retrieved: https://www.technologyreview.com/2025/07/10/1119941/china-energy-dominance-three-charts/%5D
The CEO of OpenAI, Sam Altman asserts that “Our vision is simple: we want to create a factory that can produce a gigawatt of new AI infrastructure every week.”, as part of deploying the amount of AI compute he believes is necessary to have an agentic AI driven economy and society [Sam Altman. (Sept 23, 2025). Abundant Intelligence. Retrieved: https://blog.samaltman.com/abundant-intelligence]. But there really isn’t any realistic plan as to how we can meet those energy demands in the United States. China on the other hand has a surplus of energy and is continuing to build out more capacity. As China develops more powerful and efficient chips the disparity between Chinese AI systems and those in the U.S. will grow.
China is set to match, and even outcompete the United States in both compute per watt and total compute capacity. Which based upon Sam Altman’s push for more and more compute, and Elon Musk’s massive xAI Colossus compute cluster in Memphis Tennessee enabling Grok to rapidly advance, resulting in the recent release of the very impressive Grok 4 Fast (its very fast, very smart, and very efficient/cost effective, all at once, thereby outperforming EVERY other model for certain use cases, such as generating training datasets), means that China will have more compute for AI simply because it has the energy to support that AI compute and the U.S. does not. Which places the U.S. at a serious disadvantage despite the fact that we got an earlier start in this AI race [Wes Roth. (Sept 23, 2025). Sam Altman and Elon Musk go ALL IN. Retrieved: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9iyYhxbmr6g]. If anything, Elon Musk’s success with Grok catching up to and at times surpassing OpenAI demonstrates the importance of compute capacity to advancing AI technology [Pourya Kordi. (Sept 22, 2025). Elon’s New AI Breaks Records: Grok-5 Could Be AGI!. Retrieved: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FUElQNCnZsM].
While the United States is scrambling for a solution to their energy needs, China has a clear path to success because of their investment in renewable energy sources that helped it develop a robust high capacity energy grid. And if you think the US can just suddenly invest in renewable energy, you have to understand China controls over 80% of the solar industry and market. So if we want to get solar cells we basically have to buy them from China. Further complicating matters, Trump’s policies have caused the U.S. Solar industry to reduce its capacity and stagnate, creating economic hardship for both workers and companies, some of whom voted for Trump [More Perfect Union. (Jul 10, 2025). He Voted for Trump. It Cost Him His Job. Retrieved: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PlCjdqo-kOU]
Perhaps the simplest way to demonstrate the reality of how irrational and destructive Trump’s position in his first term and in his second against renewable energy has been, and more generally the harm that occurs when people believe the rhetoric denigrating renewable energy, is the title of an August 14th 2025 article by Fortune.com: “AI experts return from China stunned: The U.S. grid is so weak, the race may already be over” [Eva Roytburg. (Aug 14, 2025). AI experts return from China stunned: The U.S. grid is so weak, the race may already be over. Retrieved: https://fortune.com/2025/08/14/data-centers-china-grid-us-infrastructure/].
The Fortune article states, “China adds more electricity demand than the entire annual consumption of Germany, every single year. Whole rural provinces are blanketed in rooftop solar, with one province matching the entirety of India’s electricity supply.”
“‘U.S. policymakers should be hoping China stays a competitor and not an aggressor,’ Fishman said. ‘Because right now they can’t compete effectively on the energy infrastructure front.’”
China’s energy grid isn’t an accident, but the result of decades of very intentional rational policies developed by a government body that is dominated by engineers and technocrats [Interesting Times with Ross Douthat. (Sept 4, 2025). Does the Future Belong to China? | Interesting Times with Ross Douthat. Retrieved: https://youtu.be/ZNK3vNg13XA?si=mTd5_JsaCJKmS5a8].
Some people in the United States seem to want to pick a fight with the world both inside and outside their borders without studying how either world actually works. Which ironically is something Sun Tzu in The Art of War had some pointed words about, “If ignorant both of your enemy and of yourself, you are certain in every battle to be in peril.”.
Peril is upon us now, and ignorance has been its driver. The ICE raid at the Hyundai factory is one of many mistakes which speak to a reckless administration, one that has abandoned thoughtful and circumspect decision making. It’s an administration so consumed with rhetoric that it is failing to exercise reason. The consequences that follow don’t care what you believe, or who you voted for, or who you pray to. The consequences don’t care whose fault it is and will not ask for permission or respect the popular vote. No amount of vitriol or political violence will stop the consequences. There’s a path to victory, a refuge from the consequences, but walking that path and reaching that refuge requires a great many people to change their behaviors. Either you will or you won’t – either way, consequences will follow as surely as gravity pulls you to the Earth. Choose wisely which future you’re going to realize.
Defend The Disabled 