On March 28th, the Biden administration and the Department of Commerce initiated an inquiry that grinds domestic solar project construction to a halt, immediately freezing the majority of the solar module supply used to construct American solar projects and putting 38,000+ American jobs at risk.
CANARY MEDIA (May 18) – Researchers from BloombergNEF say Auxin Solar used data inaccurately in petitioning the Commerce Department to consider new tariffs on imported solar panels.
U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo has a path that is codified in the statute to stop a pointless process initiated over a phantom menace – and she can use those options in the coming weeks to breathe life back into an American solar industry whipsawed by her department’s actions.
Auxin Solar, a single company representing less than 3% of the U.S. module market, is attempting – without the support of a single other domestic manufacturing company – to manipulate U.S. trade laws to gain a competitive advantage. Auxin has asked the Department of Commerce to apply cost-prohibitive tariffs of up to 250% on solar products imported from four allied trading partners in Southeast Asia – Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, and Cambodia.
Eighty percent (80%) of imported solar panels are sourced from these four countries. These solar panels are vital to supporting the 230,000 American solar jobs that exist today, including tens of thousands of manufacturing jobs for other essential solar components.
Commerce has agreed to initiate a review of Auxin’s petition, and in past cases, it has typically taken 150 days or longer to issue a ruling despite having broad discretion to move faster. Merely initiating the investigation has frozen the domestic solar industry, and each passing day worsens the impacts on American workers and American households.
The potential tariffs that could be applied in this case could reasonably be as high as 250% and – importantly – would be retroactive back to April 1st, 2022. As a result, any solar panel imported between today and a ruling by Commerce carries a cost so astronomical that the manufacturers in the target countries have been forced to cease producing or importing solar panels destined for U.S. projects.
The American Clean Power Association issued a market impact survey to gather a sample of the impacts this inquiry is already having on crystalline-silicon PV projects. Initial sampling based on input from over 150 different solar projects across the country show that over 24 GW of projects are at risk for cancellation or delay across 2022- 2023 The full economy-wide impact is likely substantially higher.
Without swift resolution:
Secretary Raimondo rightfully declined to initiate a strikingly similar petition brought in 2021, further solidifying the point that this case is also not worthy of further investigation. The Secretary has broad discretion in her administration of these proceedings, including the ability to issue a negative ruling as soon as 45 days following the initiation of the inquiry.
Secretary Raimondo needs to hear from the American people: Don’t Kill American Solar
Take one minute to make your voice heard and tell the Commerce Department to Save Solar Jobs.
Around the country, solar companies are delaying projects, scrambling for supplies, shutting down construction sites and warning that tens of billions of dollars — and tens of thousands of jobs — are at risk.
In a state-by-state survey by a solar trade group, 84% of Florida solar companies surveyed reported cancellations or delays in their supply of solar panel parts.
The rest of America pays the price for the petitioner’s gain in the form of higher electricity bills during a time of high inflation, fewer middle-class clean energy jobs, furloughed jobs throughout the solar sector, greater dependence on foreign fossil fuels supplied by autocratic nations, and a more polluted planet. The Commerce Department rejected a similar petition last year and should follow its own precedent by moving swiftly to signal a negative preliminary determination on this petition.
The Commerce Department’s inquiry has left the U.S. solar industry without a clear understanding of the risk that developers face from the possibility of unpredictable retroactive tariffs. ACP found that the uncertainty of potential retroactive tariffs is forcing companies to delay or cancel over 24GW of projects and consider laying off 38,000 Americans – equivalent to more than a third of the entire utility-scale solar workforce.
Chief Executive Officer
American Clean Power Association
“President Biden and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo still have the power to recognize the petition for what it is — an effort at gaming the system — and issue a negative preliminary determination, becoming champions for American solar energy production, the middle-class jobs those domestic energy investments create, and the planet we seek to preserve.”
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