The US House of Representatives on Friday voted to reinstate tariffs on solar panel imports from several Southeast Asian countries after US President Joe Biden paused them in a bid to boost solar installations in the US, a key part of his climate agenda.
The 221-202 vote sends the measure to the US Senate, where lawmakers from both parties have expressed similar concerns about what many call unfair competition from China. Biden has vowed to veto the measure if it reaches his desk.
The House vote would overturn Biden’s action last year pausing threatened tariffs that had led to delays or cancellations of hundreds of solar projects across the US.
Twelve Democrats joined 209 Republicans to support the override measure. Eight Republicans and 194 Democrats opposed it.
Some US manufacturers say that China has essentially moved operations to four Southeast Asian countries — Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia and Cambodia — to skirt strict anti-dumping rules that limit imports from China.
A US Department of Commerce inquiry last year found likely trade contraventions involving Chinese products. Biden halted the tariffs for two years before the department’s investigation was completed.
The White House said that Biden’s action was “necessary to satisfy the demand for reliable and clean energy,” while providing “certainty for jobs and investments in the solar supply chain and the solar installation market.”
Before Biden acted, the threat of tariffs from the department inquiry had led to delays or cancellations of hundreds of solar projects in the US as investors moved to protect themselves against potential penalties as high as US$1 billion that could be imposed retroactively.
The US industry says that imports of solar panels are needed as solar installations ramp up to meet increased demand for renewable energy. Solar power is a key part of Biden’s goal to achieve 100 percent clean electricity by 2035.
US Representative Jason Smith on Friday said that restoring the tariffs would hold China accountable while protecting US jobs and workers.
Tariffs would protect US manufacturers who are facing unfair competition from China, which is subsidizing its panels and selling them at low prices, Smith said.
“These trade abuses are well-known to all of us in this chamber,” said Smith, chairman of the tax-writing US House Committee on Ways and Means.
“By shipping its products through Cambodia, Malaysia, Taiwan and Vietnam, [Chinese officials] have set up a scheme that cheats American workers and consumers,” Smith said. “We know there’s wrongdoing going on. We know China is cheating, and that’s precisely why members of both parties were stunned and disappointed when the White House made the misguided decision” to halt the tariffs for two years.
US Representative Earl Blumenauer said the House action would “punish US workers” and the solar industry “and set us back on our climate goals.”
US Representative Judy Chu (趙美心) said the two-year pause was “not a perfect solution,” but offered “a short-term bridge” as the US solar industry moves to produce more solar panels at home.
American Council on Renewable Energy president and CEO Gregory Wetstone said that if enacted, the House proposal — and its retroactive tariffs — “would have a devastating impact on US solar deployment.”
Many new solar projects have already been delayed due to a global shortage of photovoltaic panels, Wetstone said.
The House measure puts tens of thousands of good-paying jobs at risk and could seriously undermine the success of the landmark climate law enacted last year “even as scientists’ warnings about the impacts of global climate change are increasingly dire,” he said.
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