I have launched an investigation into the U.S. company DuPont—why is DuPont being singled out as a typical case amid the Sino-U.S. trade rivalry?

III. DuPont’s Past and Present! DuPont (E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company) is a long-established multinational enterprise whose development spans over two centuries—from its origins as a gunpowder manufacturer to its evolution into a global leader in science and materials technology. DuPont’s history is not merely the story of one company’s rise and fall, but also a microcosm of America’s chemical industry transitioning from traditional manufacturing to high-tech innovation. Key stages in its development: 1. Origins and Early Development (1802–1902) Founding Context: In 1802—during the Jiaqing reign of the Qing Dynasty—French immigrant Éleuthère Irénée du Pont founded DuPont in Wilmington, Delaware, initially producing gunpowder. Government contracts—including those for the War of 1812—served as key early growth drivers. Family-Style Management: For its first century, DuPont was run by the du Pont family under a quasi-military management system. Henry du Pont consolidated the U.S. gunpowder market through industry alliances and acquisitions; in 1889, he established the U.S. Powder Trade Association, controlling two-thirds of national output. 2. Transformation and Expansion in the 20th Century (1903–2000) The Three Brothers’ Revival: After Eugene du Pont’s death in 1902, the family faced crisis. Brothers Alfred, Coleman, and Pierre took over, steering the firm from a family business toward modern, corporate-style management. They acquired or merged with 64 companies, securing control over two-thirds of U.S. explosives resources, and formed the new entity “E.I. du Pont de Nemours Powder Company.” Diversification and Innovation: During both world wars, surging military orders brought enormous profits. Post-war, DuPont pivoted decisively into chemicals. Starting in the 1930s, it introduced revolutionary materials such as nylon and Teflon, cementing its leadership in polymer chemistry. Later innovations—including Kevlar and Tyvek—found wide application across defense, aerospace, and healthcare. Management Reform: From the 1940s onward, DuPont gradually introduced professional managers, diminishing family control. Repeated spin-offs and restructurings followed to meet global competition. 3. Spin-offs and Restructuring in the 21st Century (2000–2025) As early as 1902, DuPont had already established multiple laboratories dedicated to polymer research—while at that time, the Qing court’s Empress Dowager Cixi had fled to Shaanxi Province after the Eight-Nation Alliance invasion and only returned to Beijing after signing the Boxer Protocol. China’s polymer research began roughly 80 years later. Starting in 1917, DuPont held a 23% stake in General Motors, forging industrial synergy; by 1920, its 27% share gave it de facto control, allowing it to dominate GM’s board until antitrust divestiture in the 1950s. From 1935 onward, DuPont successively developed nylon, Teflon, and other breakthrough materials—while China was embroiled in civil war and resisting Japanese aggression. China lagged behind by about 70 years. During WWII (1939–1945), DuPont secured special Boeing equity via military material supply, exerting long-term influence on Boeing’s aerospace materials R&D decisions. In the 1960s, the du Pont and Rockefeller families jointly built a chemical-finance conglomerate—the Chase Manhattan Bank. Since the 1980s, DuPont has progressively exited basic chemicals and petroleum businesses, focusing instead on specialty chemicals and materials science—whereas China’s petrochemical system was only just getting started, lagging by ~80 years. In 1981, DuPont acquired Continental Oil Company (Conoco) for $8 billion, subsequently controlling 12% of U.S. crude oil production via the DuPont-Conoco structure. After 2000, DuPont began spinning off traditional materials businesses and gradually entered nutrition & health, electronic materials, and medical materials sectors—while China lagged by ~20 years. In 2004, DuPont sold its textile and interior décor business—including nylon and Lycra brands—to Koch Industries (forming Invista) for $4.4 billion in cash. In 2015, DuPont spun off its Teflon and titanium dioxide businesses into Chemours, an independent, publicly traded company. In 2017, DuPont merged with Dow Chemical to form DowDuPont, later unwound due to antitrust concerns and strategic realignment. In 2019, DowDuPont split into three independent, publicly traded companies: • Dow: Focused on materials science (e.g., plastics, coatings); market cap > $20 billion. • Corteva Agriscience: Specializing in agricultural technologies (seeds, pesticides); market cap > $40 billion. • New DuPont: Operating specialty products (e.g., electronic materials, medical devices); market cap > $25 billion. In 2021, DuPont divested its Nutrition & Biosciences business for $7.3 billion to International Flavors & Fragrances (IFF). In 2022, DuPont sold most assets of its Mobility & Materials (M&M) division—primarily engineering plastics—to Celanese for $11 billion. In 2023, DuPont sold 80.1% of its Delrin homopolymer POM business to TJC LP for $1.8 billion—a transaction covering ~80% of the global homopolymer POM market. In 2024, DuPont announced plans to spin off its Electronics business (semiconductor technologies, interconnect solutions) into a standalone public company, targeting completion in 2025. Meanwhile, over the past two decades, China’s domestic chemical industry has completed a comprehensive revival across the full spectrum of chemical materials—essentially replicating the 80-year path traversed by the U.S. chemical system epitomized by DuPont. As of the first half of 2025, China’s high-end materials sector is experiencing explosive growth, achieving near-total domestic substitution. The trade conflict has evolved from earlier agriculture-focused tariffs to today’s across-the-board, 34%-rate blanket tariffs—highlighting the extraordinary intensity and significance of China’s five-year sprint in advanced materials. Setting aside national boundaries, while China’s chemical materials industry has made rapid progress over the past two decades, it still needs to draw upon DuPont’s experience in fundamental research, industrial upgrading, and global competition to transition from a manufacturing powerhouse to an innovation-driven nation.

A staggering 118% year-on-year growth! Profits surge dramatically for chemical giants including BASF, Dow, and DuPont—so which company is the most profitable?

2021 Group annual revenue increased 23% year-on-year to USD 28.2 billion; full-year EBITDA reached USD 4.6 billion, up 14% year-on-year. All Syngenta Group business units in China posted strong growth, generating USD 7.4 billion in revenue. Revenue from the Modern Agricultural Technology Service Platform business more than doubled, reaching USD 1.8 billion. 23 Bayer AG In 2021, Group sales rose 8.9% to EUR 44.081 billion; EBITDA before special items grew 6.8% to EUR 1.19 billion; net income totaled EUR 1.0 billion. Agricultural business sales rose 11.1% to EUR 20.207 billion (~USD 21.3 billion); prescription pharmaceuticals sales rose 7.4% to EUR 18.349 billion; consumer health product sales rose 6.5% to EUR 5.293 billion. 24 PPG Industries 2021 net sales: USD 16.802 billion (vs. USD 13.834 billion in 2020); full-year net income: USD 1.439 billion (vs. USD 1.059 billion in 2020). 25 AkzoNobel 2021 revenue: EUR 9.587 billion (~USD 10.1 billion) (vs. EUR 8.53 billion in 2020); full-year operating profit: EUR 1.118 billion (vs. EUR 0.963 billion in 2020). Domestic 01 PetroChina In 2021, revenue reached RMB 2.6 trillion, up 35.2% year-on-year—a record high. Net profit attributable to shareholders of the parent company totaled RMB 92.17 billion, an increase of RMB 73.16 billion (up 385% year-on-year)—the highest in seven years and the highest among peers. Domestic crude oil reserve replacement ratio stood at 2.21—the highest since the company’s IPO. Operating profit amounted to RMB 161.15 billion, up RMB 85.22 billion year-on-year; major cost and expense increases remained far below revenue growth, with key cost metrics—including per-unit operating costs for oil & gas and per-unit cash processing costs for refining—effectively controlled. 02 Sinopec 2021 revenue: RMB 2.74 trillion, up 30.2% year-on-year; net profit attributable to shareholders: RMB 71.975 billion, up 115.2% year-on-year—the best performance in nearly a decade; net cash flow from operating activities: RMB 225.174 billion—the best result on record. Domestic crude oil production: 35.1549 million tonnes; natural gas production up 11.9% year-on-year; crude oil processing volume: 255 million tonnes, up 7.8%; ethylene output: 13.38 million tonnes, up 10.9%; finished oil sales volume: 221 million tonnes; total chemical product sales volume: 81.6 million tonnes. 03 CNOOC 2021 revenue: RMB 246.111 billion, up 58.4% year-on-year; net profit attributable to shareholders: RMB 70.32 billion (~USD 10.9 billion), up 181.8% year-on-year—driven primarily by higher international oil prices and increased production.

GAMMA Investing LLC Increases Stake in DuPont de Nemours, Inc.

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GAMMA Investing LLC raised its DuPont holdings by 242.3% in Q3 to approximately $3.5 million, following strong financial results and positive analyst ratings.

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