WASHINGTON — The Coalition for a Prosperous America (CPA) today applauded bipartisan legislation introduced by U.S. Representatives Bill Posey (R-FL) and Dan Kildee (D-MI) that will repeal President Biden’s Solar Emergency Declaration, issued last June. Under the Congressional Review Act (CRA), Congress can repeal rules enacted by the executive branch if they were enacted within 60 legislative days of the end of the last legislative session. U.S. Representatives Bill Pascrell (NJ-09), Garret Graves (LA-16), Terri Sewell (AL-07) and Bob Latta (OH-05) joined Posey and Kildee in introducing the legislation.
Biden’s Solar Emergency Declaration effectively neutralizes the Department of Commerce’s investigation into whether Chinese solar manufacturers are illegally circumventing antidumping and countervailing duty (AD/CVD) orders. In December, Commerce issued a preliminary determination that found that Chinese companies operating in Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, and Cambodia are illegally circumventing existing antidumping and countervailing (AD/CVD) duty orders on solar cells and modules from China.
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 24 months and protects them from retroactive duties — regardless of what Commerce finds in its final investigation.
Biden’s emergency declaration came after intense lobbying by the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), a trade association that was exposed as a front for Chinese solar manufacturers and whose members have been implicated in the use of forced labor in Xinjiang.Earlier this year, 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.”
In Commerce’s preliminary determination, it found that SEIA member’s Trina Solar and LONGI, which owns Vina, will face increased tariffs as Commerce determined the companies failed to demonstrate their independence from the CCP. Trina’s products are shipped from Thailand, and Vina ships from Vietnam.
“This bipartisan legislation is an important win for the rule of law, American manufacturers, and the tens of thousands of workers that they employ,” said Michael Stumo, CEO of CPA. “On behalf of CPA and our members, we applaud Congressman Posey and Congressman Kildee for leading this important effort. It is unconscionable that President Biden undermined the independent, judicial investigation by Commerce, which has already found preliminarily that the Chinese are illegally circumventing AD/CVD duties.
“At a time when American manufacturers are investing billions of dollars to boost domestic production as a result of the Inflation Reduction Act, it is indefensible that the Biden administration wants to undermine this by giving Chinese manufacturers a free pass to illegally violate U.S. trade law to the detriment of American companies and American workers,” continued Stumo. “The House should pass this bipartisan legislation, and the Senate should swiftly follow.”
