Biden’s administration will end its non-intervention in a Commerce Department tariff investigation, which effectively froze the US solar power industry.
An investigation into whether Chinese solar producers had been improperly channeling parts through four Asian countries had reduced solar installation forecasts by nearly half an aEUR.” This was done at a moment when Congress is still stalled on the Biden White House’s ambitious clean-energy agenda.
President Biden has set a top goal to rapidly shift the country away fossil fuels in favor of clean energy.
The administration was forced to conduct a trade investigation to investigate a complaint from a U.S. manufacturer of solar panels. This was in order to try to encourage a transition to zero emission power generation by 2035, and also to lead a Commerce Department investigation. However, the administration acknowledged that it did not have the legal authority to stop or dismiss any interference to the solar industry.
The administration announced a compromise Monday: While the investigation will continue and solar panels from Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, Thailand, and Cambodia will be permitted to be imported for two years, without the fear of high retroactive tariffs aEUR”, giving the industry some certainty while they wait for the Commerce Department’s final decision.
A White House official spoke to reporters in background and defended the move. According to the official, the Tariff Act authorizes the Commerce secretary as well as the president to take urgent actions. “And here he [Biden] uses that authority to ensure reliable supply of components for solar panels from southeast Asian countries. They play a crucial role in the reliable supply [of solar panels].
The move was cheered by the solar industry.
Abigail Ross Hopper is the president and chief executive of the Solar Energy Industries Association.
Hopper expressed concern to NPR last month that the ongoing tariff investigation was “wiping away a decade worth of solar job growth.”
The White House views the import window as a bridge to a time when domestic solar production is more robust.
Although the U.S. solar industry is growing exponentially over the past few years, it is not at the level required to achieve Biden’s goal for a net carbon neutral energy sector within the next 13 years.
Biden invokes the Defense Production Act in an attempt to accelerate that growth. This will allow for increased American solar panel manufacturing. The president has also directed the federal government increase its purchase of U.S.-made panels and other clean technology products.
The administration anticipates that domestic solar manufacturing will triple by 2024 if production increases as expected. According to the official of the administration, there is enough to allow more than 3.3 million households to switch to solar energy each year.
