WASHINGTON — The Coalition for a Prosperous America (CPA) today urged President Joe Biden to implement federal policies that will ensure the U.S. domestic solar manufacturing industry can continue to enjoy robust growth and play a key role in achieving emission reduction goals and the creation of green jobs. The Biden administration’s focus on climate change has included talk of green job creation, including a promise by candidate Biden to create 10 million clean energy jobs.
“The U.S. domestic solar energy industry is continuing to see historic growth as a result of successful trade remedies that have significantly benefited American producers and the workers they employ,” the letter states. “As the leading national organization representing domestic producers through our manufacturing, agricultural, and labor members, we request that your administration use every trade, tax, and support policy at your disposal to ensure that U.S. solar manufacturers and workers continue investing in domestic solar supply chain capacity to achieve your emission reduction goals.”
Industry experts recently documented the U.S. solar industry’s historic growth, despite claims by special interest groups that advocate for subsidized Chinese imports that the current Section 201 solar tariffs would have a negative impact on the U.S. market for solar energy installations.
“Despite the predictions of special interests advocating for subsidized Chinese imports, which are often produced with forced labor, the Section 201 solar tariffs have had no negative impact on the U.S. market for solar energy installations, which grew 43% in 2020,” the letter continues. “Solar installations are set to be more than 50% greater than they were expected to be prior to the implementation of the 201 tariffs in 2017. This record setting pace of installations is continuing in 2021 with nearly 11 GWdc of solar coming online already, a number greater than most annual installation volumes from the past decade. The industry surpassed 3 million solar installations, the majority of which are residential. Industry experts are increasing their installation projections in the future.”
Earlier this year, the CPA Economics Team published a report titled, “Reclaiming the US Solar Supply Chain from China,” which documents the Chinese chokehold on the global solar supply chain. China also uses forced labor in Xinjiang, which has helped Chinese solar companies to produce much of the world’s polysilicon—an essential input for solar cells. At the same time, China continues to pollute heavily to produce polysilicon, adding 38 gigawatts of coal-fired power plants in the last year alone to support this process. China has constructed about twice as much coal-fired power as the rest of the world has decommissioned. That means, despite earnest climate goals, the world actually added net coal-based power last year.
“Mr. President, you can help create hundreds of thousands of good paying manufacturing jobs and achieve your emissions goals by setting clear targets on increasing the U.S. domestic market share of this important sector and achieving those goals,” the letter concludes. “We cannot and should not save the planet while aiding and abetting the genocide and forced labor integral to the Chinese solar supply chain.”
Read the full text of the letter.
