The Senate voted on Wednesday to reinstate tariffs on solar panels from Chinese companies in Southeast Asia that were found to have been imported into the United States in violation of trade rules.
The House of Representatives has already passed the measure by a vote of 56-41. This creates a standoff with the Biden administration, which has temporarily suspended tariffs in an effort to secure enough solar panels to combat climate change.
President Biden said he would veto the measure and would require a two-thirds majority of lawmakers in both chambers to overturn it.
But the move, which has the support of many key Democrats, was a marked rebuke to the actions of the Biden administration. Critics said Biden's decision not to impose tariffs on Chinese solar panel makers violates US trade rules and fails to protect American workers.
“This vote was a simple choice: Do you support American manufacturers and American workers, or do you support China?” This was stated by Senator Sherrod Brown, Democrat of Ohio. "We are now sending a clear message that we need equal opportunity for workers and manufacturers in Ohio and across the country."
Sen. Marco Rubio, D-Florida, responded to the vote on Twitter. “If President Biden cares about American jobs, the environment, preventing forced labor, or fighting communist China, he will sign this bill into law,” Rubio wrote.
The battle over whether solar panels were imported into the US at unfairly low prices is over. In December, a US trade court ruled that four Chinese companies were attempting to illegally evade US tariffs on solar energy products shipped from China by shipping their products to factories in Southeast Asia.
Companies that circumvent US tariffs usually immediately face higher tariff rates on imports of their products into the United States. But Biden took the unusual step in June of suspending those tariffs for two years.
The delay has been supported by solar panel importers and installers of the project, who have argued that tariffs should be suspended for a longer period.
Lawmakers "voted to spin companies that invest billions of dollars and employ thousands of people in their states out of control," Abigail Ross Hooper, executive director of the Solar Manufacturers Association, said in a statement.
"Cutting supplies at this critical time will harm American companies and prevent us from using clean, reliable energy anytime soon," he said.
But some prominent Democrats called the president's decision a violation of US trade rules written to protect US manufacturers from unfair foreign competition. Republicans also raised the issue for Biden's criticism of Linh on China and highlighting the Chinese solar industry's relationship to forced labor in China's Xinjiang region.
"We must hold accountable those who violate US trade laws, including China," said Rep. Dan Kildee of Michigan, who sponsored the House bill. "When we don't enforce our trade laws, it hurts businesses and workers in Michigan and the United States."
The Biden administration is taking steps to reduce US dependence on China, including investing heavily in expanding US manufacturing of solar panels, semiconductors and car batteries.
But the White House has made mitigating climate change one of its top priorities, and officials say the United States will have to continue buying solar energy products in the near term from China, which makes the vast majority of the cells and panels that convert electricity. Sunlight into electricity. .
In a statement released on April 24, the White House said it strongly opposes Congress' decision and that the president would veto it if it passed.
"The administration is actively working to support the domestic manufacturing of solar panels," the White House said in a statement. Americans have access to reliable, clean, and affordable electricity.
For Republicans and Democrats in Congress, taking a hard line on China has become a rare area of bipartisan agreement, with lawmakers banding together to demand tougher trade sanctions and criticize the CEO of Chinese app TikTok.
Senate Democrats announced Monday that they will introduce legislation to maintain the US's economic lead in China, building on previous legislation to support the semiconductor industry. The House Select Committee on China is also preparing to launch an investigation into possible links between big business and forced labor in Xinjiang. Adidas, Nike, Shein and Temu are expected to be initial targets for the group, according to a person familiar with the plans.
