Senators Seek to Reverse Biden’s Tariff Waivers on Chinese Solar Panels

Two Democratic Senators call on President Joe Biden’s to cancel tariff waivers Chinese companies use to dodge anti-dumping duties and countervailing duty by moving solar modules and cells through four Southeast Asian states.

Sens. Sens. March 2 letterYou can also say that “circumvention of U.S. trade law is indisputably happening, and it is harming American workers and industry.”

Commerce Department released a statement on Dec. 2, last year. preliminary determination Examining the subject “a complaint alleging that eight solar companies that manufacture solar cells and modules are manufacturing the components in the PRC, then sending those cells and modules to Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand, and/or Vietnam for minor processing before being exported to the United States.

“These are attempts to dodge the current antidumping duty and countervailing duty orders (CVD) on modules and solar cell from the PRC.” the Commerce Department said. “Commerce has made today’s preliminary determination clear that it will hold the PRC responsible for trade-distorting activities, which harm American industries.

Biden Waiver to ‘Spur Domestic Clean Energy’

According to White House announcement On June 6, 2022 the United States announced that it was on track to triple its solar production capacity by 2024.” In order to facilitate that transition, however, an interim supply of solar panels would be required—which tariff waivers would provide. “In order to quickly build on these gains and to create an American-made bridge to clean energy, it is necessary to immediately increase the short-term availability of solar panels in support of construction projects here in the United States.” the statement said.

The White House statement said the two-year tariff suspension applied to imports that supply about 80 percent of photovoltaic cells and modules used in the United States—from Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam.

However, the Commerce Department probe found that China’s solar manufacturers are evading United States tariffs by rerouting their production through three of these Southeast Asian countries.

The probe revealed that BYD Hong Kong rerouted its production through Cambodia, Canadian Solar and Trina through Thailand, and Vina Solar through Vietnam to specifically evade U.S. tariffs on China-made solar panels.

“These trade cheating acts at the cost of American workers and consumers as well small businesses.” according to Sens. Brown and Casey. “China’s trade cheating has driven many innovative manufacturers out of business because they cannot compete with the predatory prices offered by government-subsidized Chinese competitors.”

“The U.S. Trade Laws are meant to protect the domestic market from unjustified trade practices” the senators said. “American manufacturing companies will be restricted from growth if they do not receive fair trade protections.”

To that end, the two lawmakers urged the Biden administration to fully enforce “U.S. trade remedies, and to end the suspension of tariffs if the Department of Commerce discovers evidence of circumvention”

They further singled out an International Energy Agency (IEA) report from 2021, which shows that China manufactures about 75 percent of the solar modules installed globally.

A Bernreuter report echoed the findings of the IEA. According to Bernreuter, China accounts for 97 percent of the global supply of silicon wafers and 79 percent of photovoltaic cells.

As the Biden administration races to deploy green energy, demand for solar panels and their components is only growing, the lawmakers noted.

Given China’s control over the global solar panel market, “This dependence could lead to future supply chain security problems.” the senators said.

Previous Bid

In January, a bipartisan group of House representatives introduced similar legislation that also sought to reverse the tariff waivers.

“”The Communist Party of China shouldn’t be permitted to bypass our trade laws, and undercut American manufacturing,” Rep. Bill Posey (R. Fla.), who spearheaded the effort said. statement.

The federal government must support American companies and lead the effort to increase our global competitiveness, particularly when it concerns our country’s energy independence.”

The bill would give lawmakers the ability to undo Biden’s tariff freeze—which the Commerce Department formalized as a regulation in late 2022—by using the Congressional Review Act.

The legislation’s co-sponsor, Rep. Dan Kildee (D-Mich.), echoed Posey’s view, saying, “Foreign solar producers cannot violate American trade law.”

“In its investigation, the Biden administration discovered that China was evading U.S. solar import tariffs. However, it has stopped all action, which is incontraught.” he added.

The bill was co-sponsored by Reps. Bill Pascrell (D-N.J.), Garret Graves (R-La.), Terri Sewell (D-Ala.), and Bob Latta (R-Ohio).

Restricting Solar Tech Export

Meanwhile, China is reportedly considering the imposition of export restrictions on technologies used in the manufacture of solar panels in a bid to maintain its dominance in the global market.

On Dec. 30 last year, the Chinese regime’s Ministry of Science and Technology added some of these technologies to the “Be restricted” list of items in an export-control circular.

The technologies are related to boosting the electricity output of solar panels, and would allow each unit of power to be produced at a lower cost.

However, some experts believe that the move could backfire on China, and make the expansion of Chinese solar firms in other nations difficult.

Naveen Athrappully contributed to this report.