For decades, the US government has used huge amounts of subsidies to shore up domestic industries, such as agriculture, renewable energy, chip and semiconductor sectors. For agriculture alone, the US government has provided $522.7 billion in subsidies from 1995 to 2023. Despite that, it has constantly been criticizing other countries' approaches to doing the same. As former Chinese vice finance minister Zhu Guangyao said, the US has the largest industry subsidy programs worldwide. Given the scale and structure of its own subsidies, the US is in no position to criticize other country's same practices. The irony is hard to ignore: the US's commitment to industry competitiveness highlights a double standard, one that makes people question whether the real issue lies in subsidies themselves or in who is providing them.