The US House of Representatives on Friday voted to reinstate tariffs on solar panel imports from several Southeast Asian countries, which China has used as a solution to boost its sales. It is essentially an attempt by Republicans and Democrats to reverse the tariff freeze imposed by President Joe Biden as part of a larger effort to buy time for more sunshine in the United States.
A 221-202 vote sends the measure to the Senate, where Democrats have a slim majority but lawmakers from both parties have raised concerns about what they see as unfair competition from China. Biden promised to veto the measure if it reached his office.
In his lawsuit last year, following a Commerce Department investigation into unfair trade practices, Biden said tariffs delayed or canceled hundreds of solar projects that power businesses and American homes. Solar power is a key part of Biden's goal of 100% clean electricity by 2035, a target date considered ambitious by most energy companies.
Legislators opposing tariff changes use two measures. The revision will force companies to pay $1 billion in back taxes using a legislative tool called the Congressional Revision Act. Meanwhile, amid the debt ceiling debate, the Republican-controlled House of Representatives wants to scrap the clean energy provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).
US solar installers routinely import modules from overseas to meet demand, and some US solar manufacturers say China has essentially shifted its operations to four Southeast Asian countries - Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia and Cambodia - to avoid tougher anti-dumping rules. set the limits. . from China
Biden suspended tariffs for two years pending the end of a trade investigation and said he was responding to an emergency threatening power availability.
The Solar Energy Industries Association trade group says current U.S. manufacturing capacity cannot produce enough modules and cells to meet national demand.
And SEIA President and CEO Abigail Ross Hopper has expressed concern that some lawmakers want to target the IRA's solar regulations, a sweeping spending law passed in August 2022 that will encourage businesses and households to switch to solar and solar switch to wind energy. access vehicles and much more.
SEIA predicts that the new investment announced after the passage of the IRA will increase America's solar panel manufacturing capacity to more than 47 gigawatts, five times what we could produce in 2022. The group believes the repeal of the IRA will halt these investments.
"A two-year moratorium on solar tariffs has been introduced as a strategic bridge to bolster U.S. manufacturing capacity as developers continue to build projects and bring us closer to our clean energy goals," Ross Hopper said in a statement.
"Corporations are making huge investments in manufacturing facilities across the country through the IRA, and anything this bill is doing is undermining American businesses as they invest billions in capital and seek to hire thousands of workers," he said, increasing pressure from his groups . . . So that the Senate gives in.
Rep. Jason Smith, a Missouri Republican, said Friday that reinstating tariffs would hold China accountable and protect American jobs and workers. The tariffs will protect American manufacturers who face unfair competition from China, which Smith subsidizes and sells at low prices.
"This commercial abuse is very familiar to all of us in this room," said Smith, chair of the House Ways and Means Committee. "By shipping their products through Cambodia, Malaysia, Taiwan and Vietnam, [Chinese officials] have devised a plan to defraud American workers and consumers."
But others, particularly in the solar sector, say the tariff cuts will cost jobs.
"Biden's moratorium on new solar tariffs has allowed companies to opt for clean energy and keep American workers on the payroll while the United States sees a boom in our domestic solar generation sector," said San Diego CEO George Hershman. SOLV Energy, one of the nation's largest providers of utility-scale solar energy.
The Associated Press contributed to it .
