New energy products going global: The impact of digital transformation amid trade frictions

New energy industry is the key field in which China has suffered from trade frictions. It remains to be explored whether digital transformation can enhance export resilience and alleviate the negative shock of trade frictions. Based on the export data of new energy products, this paper uses a panel two-way fixed effects model to explores whether digital transformation can alleviate the negative shock of trade frictions on the exports of new energy products. We find that (1) trade frictions lead to an average decrease of 11.45% in the export value of new energy enterprises and an average increase of 0.84% in the probability of exiting the export market. (2) Digital transformation can buffer the negative shock of trade frictions. For enterprises undergoing digital transformation, the negative shock of trade frictions on exports are relatively limited. (3) Mechanism test indicates that digital transformation accelerates the export products conversion and export markets transfer, thereby alleviating the negative shock of trade frictions. From the digital transformation perspective, this paper provides targeted policy implications for enhancing the export resilience of new energy enterprises and forming a sustained buffering mechanism to alleviate trade friction shocks.