White House Fails to Consult a Single American Solar Manufacturer
WASHINGTON — The Coalition for a Prosperous America (CPA) released a statement in response to the Biden administration’s Solar Declaration of Emergency that effectively neutralizes the Department of Commerce’s investigation into whether Chinese solar manufacturers are illegally circumventing antidumping and countervailing duty (AD/CVD) orders. Instead of supporting robust enforcement of U.S. trade laws, the emergency declaration gives Chinese manufacturers a free pass to illegally circumvent AD/CVD orders for the next 24 months and protects them from retroactive duties — regardless of what the Commerce Department finds in its investigation.
“Once again, the Biden administration is picking China’s government-subsidized solar manufacturers that use forced labor and coal-fired power plants over U.S. solar manufacturers and American workers,” said Michael Stumo, CEO of CPA. “Instead of following U.S. law and holding China accountable for illegal trade activity, the Biden administration is giving China’s solar manufacturers a green light to continue circumventing AD/CVD duties. Equally concerning is the fact that the White House failed to consult a single American solar manufacturer on this disastrous decision.”
Biden’s emergency declaration comes after intense lobbying by the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), a trade association that was recently exposed as a front for Chinese solar manufacturers and whose members have been implicated in the use of forced labor in Xinjiang. Last month, the Commerce Department announced it was investigating three of SEIA’s Chinese members for illegal trade activity.
As The American Prospect reports, “SEIA’s membership includes U.S. subsidiaries of Chinese producers JinkoSolar, JA Solar, Trina Solar, BYD, and LONGi Solar, which are the dominant solar component manufacturers in the world.”
Last month, the United Steelworkers announced their support for Commerce’s anticircumvention investigation and highlighted their concern that SEIA is working to spread misinformation to undermine the Department of Commerce from investigating alleged circumvention of anti-dumping and countervailing duties on solar imports as a result of a petition filed by Auxin Solar, Inc.
