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A group of 85 members of Congress have signed a letter expressing their "serious concern" about the devastating economic and environmental repercussions of the investigation.
The latest in a series of political and industry leaders calling on the Commerce Department to quickly end its investigation into alleged anti-circumvention violations by Chinese solar panel exporters comes from the House of Representatives. Eighty-five members of Congress signed a petition addressed to President Biden.
In the petition, the Chamber expressed "serious concern about the economic and environmental repercussions" of the investigation, which could lead to the imposition of tariffs on solar products of between 50 and 250% or more. About 80% of the US supply of crystalline silicon solar panels comes from the four Southeast Asian nations that host operations under investigation.
In 2017 and 2018, similar investigations resulted in major solar providers receiving tariffs in excess of 90%. Those applied to Trina Solar were 92.5%, to Risen Energy 100.79%, to Canadian Solar 95.5% and to Jinko Solar 95.5%.
This level of risk is unsustainable and has already led to widespread project cancellations and delays. This years survey has essentially halted utility-scale solar construction, with the Solar Energy Industries Association cutting its deployment forecast for the year by 46%.
The petition reads thus:
A recent survey of over 700 solar companies revealed that 83% of respondents were experiencing delays or cancellations from their CSPV providers. A project-level survey revealed that more than 50 gigawatts of new solar projects are currently canceled or delayed due to the Commerce investigation. Models suggest that these cancellations and delays could cost the sector more than 100,000 jobs and increase CO2 emissions by an additional 364 million metric tons of CO2 between now and 2035, which is equivalent to the emissions of 97 coal-fired power plants. .
The petition went on to say that the signatories are strong supporters of the domestic solar energy manufacturing sector, but that this research would not benefit the industry , outside of a select few companies. It pointed out that the majority of solar power manufacturing jobs in the US are not dedicated to building modules, but to producing assemblies, racks, trackers, and other system balancing components, so the research does not help boost existing American companies.
The petitioners suggest that instead of undertaking this investigation, which is unlikely to significantly benefit domestic manufacturing, the enactment of legislation such as the Solar Energy Manufacturing for America Act and the long-term extension of the investment tax credit solar would pave the way for an American supply chain.
The note concludes by praising President Biden for setting goals for 100% clean energy by 2035 and economy-wide net-zero emissions by 2050, but underscores the fact that current research threatens to completely derail progress toward those goals.
"Therefore, we respectfully request that the Commerce Department take steps to expeditiously reach a preliminary determination as soon as possible, and that this determination take into account the broader impact on American jobs and your administrations ambitious climate goals, to the extent possible under the law,” the letter concludes.
The full document, signed by 85 members of the House, can be found here . |
