WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Coalition for a Prosperous America (CPA) today applauded a bipartisan letter from U.S. Senators Rick Scott (R-FL) and Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) supporting the Department of Commerce’s ongoing Section 232 investigation into imports of polysilicon and its derivative products. The Senators urged the Department to implement a comprehensive approach to rebuilding the U.S. solar manufacturing base that includes tariffs across the full value supply chain. Last year, CPA submitted comments for the Department’s polysilicon 232 investigation supporting this comprehensive approach.
The letter underscores a critical point: any effective policy response must address the entire solar supply chain—from polysilicon to ingots, wafers, cells, and finished modules—rather than focusing on a single segment in isolation. Protecting polysilicon production alone, while allowing Chinese-controlled solar components to continue displacing U.S. wafer, cell, and module manufacturers, would leave the United States “dangerously dependent and vulnerable” to China.
“Protecting domestic polysilicon production while still allowing Chinese solar components to displace U.S. solar wafer, cell and module manufacturers would leave our nation dangerously dependent and vulnerable to coercion from this foreign adversary,” the Senators wrote. “Failing to take sufficient trade actions to protect U.S. solar wafer, cell and module manufacturers could leave U.S. polysilicon manufacturers dependent on China’s solar manufacturing to meet demand. That is why this investigation must consider the entire supply chain, from polysilicon at the top to the finished modules at the end.”
China’s dominance in solar manufacturing has been deliberate and systemic, driven by massive state subsidies, forced labor, and predatory pricing practices that have hollowed out U.S. production across multiple stages of the supply chain. A CPA report on the domestic solar industry released last year highlighted that despite significant investments spurred by the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), the U.S. advanced manufacturing solar supply chain is severely threatened by Chinese overproduction, price manipulation, and circumvention of trade laws. Heavily subsidized Chinese firms control over 80% of the global solar supply chain and dominate even U.S.-based production.
Senator Rick Scott said, “Communist China has spent years rigging the solar supply chain with massive subsidies, forced labor, and predatory pricing to wipe out American manufacturers. This Section 232 investigation into Chinese polysilicon imports is a critical step to protect U.S. jobs, rebuild our domestic solar industry, and ensure we are no longer dependent on a foreign adversary for our energy future.”
CPA urged the Department of Commerce to adopt a holistic approach in its Section 232 investigation that restores domestic capacity, prevents circumvention through third countries, and ensures that American producers can compete and grow across the full solar manufacturing ecosystem.
“CPA strongly supports Senators Scott and Baldwin’s call for imposing tariffs across the full value supply chain in the domestic solar industry,” said Jon Toomey, President of CPA. “Tariffs limited only to polysilicon would create a dangerous vulnerability by leaving U.S. downstream manufacturing exposed to Chinese dominance. In that scenario, American polysilicon producers—and even the domestic semiconductor industry—would remain dependent and beholden to Chinese solar manufacturers as their primary customers. That is not supply chain security; it is creating a dangerous dependence on an adversarial nation.”
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