President Biden issued an executive action last June to pause new solar tariffs for two-years in response to a near-complete shutdown of solar module supply in the United States caused by the meritless Auxin Solar tariff investigation. A group of lawmakers are attempting to overturn this action and force American companies to pay more than $1 billion in retroactive duties.
“Congress just passed historic clean energy legislation that is sparking a wave of project deployment and manufacturing investments, but passing this CRA bill will undo much of this progress and have a devastating economic impact in communities across the country” said Abigail Ross Hopper, president and CEO of the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA). “The tariff pause provided business certainty that kept solar projects moving forward while providing a bridge for domestic manufacturing to grow. This deeply flawed use of the Congressional Review Act (CRA) rips the rug out from underneath American businesses and will cause thousands of workers to lose their livelihoods.”
Analysis from SEIA shows that passing this CRA legislation will eliminate 30,000 American jobs, including 4,000 manufacturing jobs. It will cause the cancellation of 4 gigawatts of solar project deployment in 2023 worth over $4.2 billion in investment. This lost deployment represents 14 percent of expected solar installations this year and will increase carbon emissions from the power sector by 24 million metric tons.
The letter emphasises the need to grow domestic manufacturing and reduce reliance on imports but urges lawmakers to not undermine the very legislation that is positioning America as a solar manufacturing powerhouse.
“This misguided resolution would stall America’s clean energy progress and put thousands of construction jobs at risk” added George Hershman, CEO of SOLV Energy and Chair of SEIA’s board of directors. “The President’s action to provide business certainty with a pause on tariffs while the supply chain shifts, combined with the historic investments in the Inflation Reduction Act, has enabled solar companies to hire more workers and greenlight projects while the US scales up its manufacturing capacity here at home. Ending the two-year reprieve would effectively halt our momentum and undercut American growth in this industry. We need Congress to stand with solar job creators and reject this dangerous effort.”
Jon Powers, president of CleanCapital, said that if Congress enacts the Congressional Review Act to remove the pause put in place on solar tariffs, projects currently being invested in may face multi-million-dollar retroactive penalties.
“This will unfairly penalise clean energy companies and significantly impede our nation's ability to reach our net zero goals” said Mr Powers.
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