Republicans and Dems in the House are attempting to overturn President Biden’s exemptions of tariffs for alleged Chinese firms that are allegedly passing their solar panels via foreign nations to circumvent US trade regulations.
Biden declared a 24-month tariff embargo on imports of solar panels from Malaysia, Cambodia, Thailand, and Vietnam in June 2022. Officials from the Commerce Department believe that the solar panels were really produced in China or by Chinese firms, but were sent through the four nations of Southeast Asia to avoid taxes.
The tax moratorium was announced at the same time that Biden’s Commerce Dept. discovered that BYD Hong Kong, Canadian Solar, Trina, and Vina Solar intentionally diverted their manufacturing through Cambodia, Thailand, and Vietnam to avoid U.S. duties on solar panels built in China.
Already, over 80% of solar panels used in the United States are produced in China or by Chinese businesses.
Reps. Dan Kildee (D-MI) and Bill Posey (R-FL) submitted legislation this week to repeal the tariff waivers, together with Terri Sewell (D-AL), Garret Graves (R-LA), Bob Latta (R-OH), and Bill Pascrell (D-NJ).
Posey stated in a statement that “the China Communist Party should not be permitted to evade our trade rules and harm American production.”
“Our federal government should support American companies and take the lead in enhancing our competitiveness globally, particularly when it comes to ensuring our country’s energy independence.”
“The bill would give legislators the ability to revoke Biden’s tariff freeze, which the Commerce Department approved as a rule in late 2022, using the Congressional Review Act.”
“Especially when it harms American employees and businesses,” Kildee added, “We cannot let foreign solar producers violate trade law. The Biden admin. discovered via its own research that China is avoiding American solar import taxes, but has taken no further action, which is unacceptable.”
The Coalition for a Prosperous America’s Michael Stumo supported the legislation:
“The rule of law, American manufacturing, and the tens of thousands of employees they employ all benefit greatly from this bipartisan measure. President Biden’s interference in Commerce’s independent, judicial inquiry, which has already determined preliminary evidence that the Chinese are illegally evading AD/CVD duties, is despicable.”
The Solar Energy Association, that has been shown to be promoting Chinese solar corporations, some of whom are suspected of committing forced slave labor, actively lobbied for Biden’s solar panel tariff moratorium.
2.8 million of the 3.7 million jobs lost as a result of free trade between the United States and China between 2001 and 2018 were in manufacturing. At least 50,000 American manufacturing facilities shut down during that time period.
A soaring U.S.-China trade gap has occurred at the same time as those significant employment losses. Before China joined the WTO, there was a $6 billion trade gap between the United States and China in 1985. The U.S. trade imbalance with China reached a record high of over $345 billion in 2019.
Studies demonstrate that tariffs would be beneficial for bringing employment back home and raising wages, in contrast to how the United States soaring trade imbalances have devastated working- and the middle-class communities for the past 20 years.
For instance, a recent analysis by economists from the Coalition for a Prosperous America concludes that imposing tariffs on practically all imports from abroad would increase domestic output and result in the creation of roughly 10 million new jobs in the United States.
These content links are provided by Content.ad. Both Content.ad and the web site upon which the links are displayed may receive compensation when readers click on these links. Some of the content you are redirected to may be sponsored content. View our privacy policy here.
To learn how you can use Content.ad to drive visitors to your content or add this service to your site, please contact us at [email protected].
Family-Friendly Content
Website owners select the type of content that appears in our units. However, if you would like to ensure that Content.ad always displays family-friendly content on this device, regardless of what site you are on, check the option below. Learn More
These content links are provided by Content.ad. Both Content.ad and the web site upon which the links are displayed may receive compensation when readers click on these links. Some of the content you are redirected to may be sponsored content. View our privacy policy here.
To learn how you can use Content.ad to drive visitors to your content or add this service to your site, please contact us at [email protected].
Family-Friendly Content
Website owners select the type of content that appears in our units. However, if you would like to ensure that Content.ad always displays family-friendly content on this device, regardless of what site you are on, check the option below. Learn More
