Move FM Global News

WASHINGTON D.C.: To support the domestic US supply chain, the US House of Representatives has repealed President Joe Biden’s suspension of tariffs on solar panels from Malaysia, Cambodia, Thailand and Vietnam.

However, solar project builders stressed that the resolution, which passed in a 221-202 vote, will stifle clean energy development.

The bill will now be sent to the Democratic-controlled Senate for consideration, but the White House has said, in a statement, that Biden would veto it.

The measure passed with the help of 12 Democrats, while 8 Republicans voted against it.

The bipartisan effort to restore tariffs on solar imports is aimed at enabling domestic solar manufacturers to compete with less expensive products from the four Southeast Asian countries, which host manufacturing facilities owned by Chinese companies and account for some 80 percent of US supplies.

In a statement, Republican Representative Bill Posey, who sponsored the resolution, said, “Today’s bipartisan vote holds China accountable for violating our trade laws and scores a big win for American solar manufacturers and workers.”

In 2022, when the the US Commerce Department was considering whether solar imports were dodging duties on goods made in China and violating US law, Biden waived tariffs on solar products from the four nations.

However, just months later the department issued a preliminary decision to impose tariffs on solar products made by Chinese companies in those countries.

Solar trade group the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) said the bill would impose $1 billion in tariffs and cause 30,000 job losses in the industry.

In a statement, Abigail Ross Hopper, SEIA’s president, said, “We are urging senators to see through this political charade and examine the facts at hand.”