More than 240 solar and storage companies are pleading with Secretary Gina Raimondo to drop a petition for new anti-circumvention tariffs on solar products as a critical US Department of Commerce deadline approaches, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association. (SEIA).
The Department of Commerce must make a preliminary determination in the anti-circumvention case of Auxin Solar on December 1, and the companies in this letter explain that an affirmative determination is unreasonable and will once again prevent the America’s ability to deploy clean energy.
“President Biden took an important step this summer to free up a gridlocked solar supply chain, but companies won’t be able to take advantage of the administration’s landmark climate policy if it doesn’t base case cannot be dismissed,” said Abigail Ross Hopper, president and CEO of SEIA. “The Inflation Reduction Act launched a steady flow of manufacturing investments in the United States, but more tariffs will undermine this success.”
The US solar and storage industry remains adamant that the case lacks legal merit. Solar cell and module manufacturing requires special equipment and is an intensive process. Due to the significant and large manufacturing activities carried out in the countries of Southeast Asia named in the investigation, the case did not reach the standard of circumcision.
The manufacturing provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act put SEIA’s goal of 50 GW of US solar production by 2030 within reach, but the Commerce Department could crush demand with unreasonable tariffs. The companies are calling on the Commerce Department to drop this frivolous investigation so the solar and storage industry can continue to grow and invest in domestic manufacturing.
