A bipartisan group of four senators, led by two Democrats from the key battleground state of Georgia, urged President Biden to tighten tariffs on Chinese-made solar panels or else the president’s clean energy tax credits would reach the market. It is asking us to face an oversupplied market in the midst of taking a hit.
The new letter to Biden, led by Sen. Jon Ossoff of Georgia and co-signed by Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, under challenging circumstances, says, “China is destroying American manufacturing; “We must not allow it to dominate this strategic energy sector.” Republican Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida and Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock of Georgia are also running for reelection. “We urge you to increase and enforce tariffs on these Chinese solar products that threaten our economic and energy security.”
The issue touches on one of Biden’s re-election arguments: that his economic policies have begun to transform America’s energy economy while combating climate change. Georgia has benefited from a generous tax regime that has spurred major investment in new solar panels and electric vehicle battery factories.
But Beijing’s policies have gone hand-in-hand with even larger industrial subsidies, driving down the cost of Chinese-made solar panels and threatening the nascent U.S. industry, potentially raising the stakes for Biden as he seeks re-election. It has become a serious political threat.
The Biden administration did not respond to requests for comment.
Opinions in the solar power industry are divided over how harsh tariffs on solar panel components from China and other countries’ Chinese subsidiaries should be. Some panel makers have warned that the U.S. plants announced by the industry and touted by Biden could be delayed or shelved due to competition from China. But companies that use cheaper imported parts from China and its subsidiaries are becoming more cautious.
Senators are no doubt considering their own political futures.
“China’s aggressive subsidies for its domestic solar manufacturing industry demonstrate its intent to dominate the industry globally,” they write. “By 2026, China will have enough production capacity to meet annual global demand for the next decade. This capacity poses an existential threat to the U.S. solar industry and U.S. energy security. Become.”