The United States is once again on the verge of ceding leadership in a critical energy technology to China. This time, though, it’s hydrogen. The hydrogen industry could reshape global energy markets, create thousands of industrial jobs, and drive American energy independence, yet the nation is watching its advantage slip away due to policy missteps, regulatory paralysis, and collapsing investment.
The signs of America’s hydrogen collapse are everywhere. Air Products scrapped three major U.S. projects, including a $500 million green hydrogen plant in New York. Nikola filed for bankruptcy in early 2025, unable to scale its hydrogen fuel cell vehicle segment without refueling infrastructure. Since the start of 2025, Plug Power’s stock has plummeted. Cummins has restructured its hydrogen division, incurring a $312 million write-down. Even Air Liquide has abandoned four of six hydrogen hub projects, citing regulatory dysfunction.
Meanwhile, China is rapidly expanding its hydrogen dominance. It’s building massive production facilities, including a $1.5 billion hydrogen hub capable of producing 40,000 tonnes annually. By 2024, China is expected to control more than 60% of global electrolyzer manufacturing. It has built over 350 hydrogen refueling stations, compared to fewer than 100 in the U.S.
This isn’t the first time we’ve pioneered an energy technology only to watch China take over. The U.S. invented solar cells, yet China now controls 80% of the global market. We developed modern wind turbines, yet China manufactures more than any other country. Modern lithium-ion batteries were created in U.S. laboratories, yet China controls roughly 75% of global production in 2025.
A lack of policy momentum
Hydrogen should have been an American success story. The Bush administration recognized its potential early, funding research to advance energy independence. When President Trump took office for his first term, he launched H2@Scale to expand hydrogen adoption across multiple sectors, treating it as a national security priority.
Under Biden, however, hydrogen momentum collapsed. The administration’s $7 billion hydrogen hub program became buried in bureaucracy. The IRA’s 45V hydrogen tax credits came with a fairly strict definition of green hydrogen that many in the industry said would prevent projects from penciling out. Just as problematic, however, was the fact that it took a year to finalize the proposed rules, which meant projects were stuck in limbo. (The final version, released in January, is a bit more flexible than the original proposal.)
It is imperative for the Trump administration to reclaim the hydrogen agenda now as a pillar of energy independence as well as means to create long-promised high-paying manufacturing jobs, rather than continuing to subsidize billion dollar mega projects that promise a “clean” fuel no one can afford, with no viable customers on the horizon.
It can achieve this by revising the 45V tax credits based on industry needs, not interest group politics. The administration should also reinvigorate the DOE’s hydrogen hubs program and Loan Program Office; even though the administration seems poised to defund the former, while staff of the latter has been cut down dramatically under the Trump administration. The goal from here should be to maintain a clear, determined focus on the creation of manufacturing jobs to ensure critical components continue to be manufactured in the United States, and not China.
If we fail to act, hydrogen will follow the same path as solar, wind, and batteries. We’ll import the technology from China instead of leading in hydrogen electrolyzers, fuel cells, and infrastructure. This means tens of thousands of potential jobs lost, particularly in industrial states, while China builds its economy on American-developed technology.
The U.S. cannot afford to lose hydrogen to China. And it shouldn’t happen under an administration that claims to support energy independence and American manufacturing. Washington must act now before we fall behind once again.
Jon Gordon is the CCO of the green hydrogen company Ecolectro. The opinions represented in this article are solely those of the author and do not reflect the views of Latitude Media or any of its staff.
