More than 240 solar and storage companies are imploring Secretary Gina Raimondo to reject a petition for new anti-circumvention tariffs on solar products as a critical U.S. Department of Commerce deadline approaches, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA).
The Department of Commerce must make its preliminary determination in Auxin Solar’s anti-circumvention case by December 1, and the companies on this letter are making clear that an affirmative determination is not justified and will once again stifle America’s ability to deploy clean energy.
“President Biden took a crucial near-term step over the summer to free up a gridlocked solar supply chain, but companies won’t be able to capitalize on the administration’s landmark climate policy if this baseless case isn’t thrown out,” says Abigail Ross Hopper, SEIA’s president and CEO. “The Inflation Reduction Act has launched a steady stream of manufacturing investments in the United States, but more tariffs will only undermine this success.”
The U.S. solar and storage industry remains firm that the case lacks legal merit. Solar cell and module manufacturing requires specialized equipment and is an intensive process. Because of the significant and major manufacturing work done in the Southeast Asian countries named in the investigation, the case does not meet the standard for circumvention.
The manufacturing provisions in the Inflation Reduction Act put SEIA’s goal of 50 GW of U.S. solar production by 2030 within reach, but the Department of Commerce could crush demand with unjustified tariffs. The companies are calling on the Department of Commerce to drop this meritless investigation so the solar and storage industry can continue to grow and invest in domestic manufacturing production.
