China’s Preferred Solar Lobby in D.C. Exposed for Undermining U.S. Industry

For years, the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) has served [in our view] as a de facto mouthpiece for Chinese solar manufacturers, consistently pushing policies that benefit China’s dominance in the solar industry at the expense of American manufacturers.

With China controlling at least 80% of the global solar panel market, SEIA’s relentless advocacy for Chinese solar imports has had devastating consequences for U.S. companies. Rather than standing up for American industry, SEIA has paved the way for China’s economic and industrial control over the U.S. solar market.

SEIA’s backing of cheap, Chinese-made solar products—whether from mainland China or Southeast Asia—has helped flood the U.S. market, effectively undercutting American manufacturers. While this influx benefits large utilities and installation companies like NextEra, it comes at the steep price of U.S. industrial decline. SEIA’s pro-China stance has allowed Chinese-made panels to dominate American power generation, squeezing out domestic alternatives and accelerating the collapse of U.S. manufacturers.

The damage caused by SEIA’s actions is evident: American solar companies have been driven out of business, while Chinese firms thrive. Despite SEIA’s fear mongering that tariffs on Chinese products would drive up prices and limit solar deployment, the reality is far different. Prices of solar panels have continued to fall, and Chinese manufacturers now control the lion’s share of the U.S. solar market. There are only two major non-Chinese U.S. manufacturers left standing: First Solar and Q Cells.

“China has dominated the solar manufacturing sector for a decade, using a playbook similar to OPEC’s control over oil markets,” wrote Mike Carr, Executive Director of the Solar Energy Manufacturers for America coalition, in PV Magazine in August. “You can either join them or get run over. China is now using this strategy in solar to stifle a U.S. manufacturing renaissance before it can take off.”

Read CPA’s view on China becoming the solar OPEC here.

SEIA’s relentless lobbying culminated in 2022 when it successfully pressured the Biden administration to implement a two-year moratorium on tariffs targeting Chinese solar products. This disastrous decision opened the floodgates to a massive surge of cheap Chinese imports, further suffocating U.S. manufacturers. According to The Guardian, senior Biden administration officials now regret caving to SEIA’s demands. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen echoed these regrets in May, stating, “It’s critical to protect our workers and firms in strategic sectors from the kind of dumping that happens when China builds massive overcapacity.”

Yet, despite these regrets, the damage has been done. U.S. manufacturers continue to struggle against an oversaturated market dominated by Chinese products, while SEIA continues to fight to keep Chinese imports flowing. The association’s actions have turned the U.S. solar market into a dumping ground for Chinese-made products, driving American companies to the brink.

Back in February, CPA Chief Economist Jeff Ferry warned that the “U.S. solar module manufacturing industry is heading for disaster” and “[a]lthough demand and installations are rising steadily, imports are rising much more quickly.” Here is what he found:

• With 86 Gigawatts of planned solar module capacity and some 30 Gigawatts of imports, the U.S. market faces huge oversupply of solar modules. 
• This will force many U.S. producers out of business, leaving the Chinese-owned U.S. facilities as the last man standing. 
• Today, with optimism at its height, Chinese-owned facilities are building more U.S. capacity than U.S. producers. The Chinese lead will only grow as U.S. producers bow out.

Unfortunately, CPA’s warning is turning out to be true. Multinational solar company Meyer Burger recently abandoned plans to invest in a U.S. solar cell manufacturing plant after being unable to secure upfront payments for tax credits from the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). SEIA, meanwhile, has continued to push for policies that favor foreign manufacturers over domestic producers, regardless of the consequences for U.S. workers and businesses.

SEIA’s history of undermining American manufacturers goes back even further. During the Trump administration, SEIA was opposed to the Trump-era Section 201 safeguards and even managed to secure an exemption for bifacial solar panels from the tariffs after suing the Trump administration in court and winning the case. This exemption allowed Chinese manufacturers to dominate utility-scale solar projects in the U.S., pushing American companies out of the market. In some cases, importers even falsely labeled traditional panels as bifacial to avoid paying tariffs—a direct result of SEIA’s reckless lobbying.

According to The Guardian, U.S. manufacturers argue that SEIA’s dire predictions of job losses and reduced solar installations have been proven wrong. In fact, the solar industry has continued to expand since tariffs were first implemented in 2018. SEIA’s credibility, once bolstered by its pro-China rhetoric, has been severely damaged by its repeated miscalculations and its role in undermining domestic production.

Despite all this, SEIA continues to cling to its pro-China agenda. SEIA spokesperson Stephanie Bosh recently reaffirmed the association’s commitment to keeping Chinese imports flowing, stating, “We will continue to advocate for policies needed to build out solar and storage manufacturing in the U.S.” But actions speak louder than words, and SEIA’s advocacy has consistently favored foreign competitors over American workers.

Chinese-owned solar companies are now under investigation by U.S. Commerce for dumping products into the U.S. market, harming domestic manufacturers. SEIA’s defense of its member companies like Canadian Solar—Canadian in name only, as most of its production is based in Asia—shows where the association’s true loyalties lie. SEIA’s refusal to prioritize American industry over foreign competition continues to fuel China’s dominance in the solar market.

The U.S. solar industry has faced immense challenges since SEIA’s lobbying led to the tariff moratorium, but deployment of solar energy has nonetheless continued to grow. According to Wood Mackenzie, the U.S. installed a record 11.8 GW of solar energy in Q1 2024. This proves that SEIA’s warnings about tariffs crippling the industry were nothing more than scare tactics, aimed at protecting Chinese imports.

If anything, the tariffs did not go far enough to leave room for a strong domestic solar industry to recover after being wiped out in the early 2000s. The strong growth in solar deployment is being increasingly outpaced by solar imports, which are harming domestic solar producers, as CPA economist Andrew Rechenberg wrote on Sept. 3.

SEIA’s actions directly conflict with the Biden administration’s goal to build domestic solar capacity. China, referred to as the “solar OPEC,” remains the price setter, controlling almost every aspect of the solar supply chain. SEIA’s lobbying ensures this dominance continues, at the expense of the U.S. solar industry’s future.

A former senior Biden administration official recently admitted to The Guardian that SEIA’s lobbying efforts “shaped the narrative before many had a chance to understand the full facts.” The official noted that SEIA’s messaging—portraying Commerce’s enforcement of trade laws as a threat to the President’s climate agenda—was a masterclass in manipulation. But in the end, SEIA’s campaign has done nothing but undermine America’s ability to rebuild its solar industry.