Florida's lawmakers are standing up for America's solar industry

Florida lawmakers are now on the front lines of the battle to save America’s domestic solar manufacturing industry. That’s because the Biden administration has taken the unfortunate step of throwing a lifeline to China’s solar companies. However, Florida Rep. Bill Posey and Sens. Marco Rubio and Rick Scott are wisely pushing back.

The Inflation Reduction Act that President Joe Biden signed last summer contains robust tax credits for America’s solar industry. After the bill passed, domestic manufacturers started planning billions of dollars worth of new solar investments in the United States. Unfortunately, the Biden administration has issued an “emergency declaration” allowing Chinese solar makers to bypass U.S. tariffs.

In response, Rep. Posey has introduced a bipartisan resolution to overturn it. And Sens. Rubio and Scott have now introduced a resolution in the Senate.

Since 2018, Chinese solar panels have faced tariffs when entering the U.S. This was the Trump administration’s response to Chinese solar products being sold in the U.S. at less than fair market value.

To avoid these tariffs, Chinese companies started selling solar panels through other countries. In 2022, the Department of Commerce investigated the problem, and determined that four Chinese companies were deliberately routing solar cells and modules through Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia in order to avoid U.S. tariffs.

Some of these Chinese solar companies – including TrinaSolar and LONGi – have also been identified as using forced labor to obtain raw materials. Under federal law, goods produced through forced labor in Xinjiang, China are forbidden to enter the United States.

There’s little justification for the U.S. to import deliberately underpriced solar panels from China – particularly ones made with forced labor. That’s why tariffs are a necessary response. However, the administration’s solar declaration means that China’s solar manufacturers – indeed, the same companies found to be violating America’s trade laws – will have a free pass to avoid U.S. tariffs for the next two years.

Why would the administration do this when the Commerce Department’s preliminary investigation found that Chinese solar manufacturers have been “dumping” heavily subsidized product into the U.S. to put American solar companies out of business?

Intense lobbying

In his emergency declaration, the president claimed that the U.S. has been “unable to import solar modules in sufficient quantities” to meet his timetable for solar panel deployment. But in reality, President Biden's emergency declaration came after intense lobbying from the Solar Energy Industries Association, a trade group that represents a number of Chinese solar manufacturers.

Last year, the Commerce Department announced that it was investigating three of the association's Chinese members for illegal trade activity, including forced labor. Solar Energy Industries Association members include U.S. subsidiaries of such major Chinese producers as JinkoSolar, JA Solar, TrinaSolar, BYD and LONGi Solar.

The resolution introduced by Rep. Posey to repeal President Biden’s solar declaration, along with one introduced by Sens. Rubio and Scott, represents an important effort to stand up to lobbying by China – and particularly by the Solar Energy Industries Association and the Chinese manufacturers currently under investigation by the Commerce Department.

Florida’s lawmakers are right to defend America’s solar manufacturers and hold China accountable for illegally violating U.S. trade laws. The House and Senate should swiftly pass these bipartisan resolutions and ensure that the administration’s free pass for Chinese companies is revoked.

Michael Stumo is the CEO of the Coalition for a Prosperous America, a nonprofit organization that advocates for strategic trade, tax and growth policies.

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Florida's lawmakers deserve applause for defending US solar industry-