House passes bipartisan measure to cancel Biden's solar trade emergency
A dozen House Democrats joined Republicans on Friday to pass a resolution that would cancel President Joe Biden's trade emergency protecting Asian solar energy product imports from tariffs through next summer.
The measure, known as a Congressional Review Act resolution of disapproval, is the latest of several Congress has passed targeting various regulations or administrative actions finalized under the Biden administration but represents the biggest bipartisan rebuke yet of the president.
AUXIN SOLAR CEO, FACE OF ANTICIRCUMVENTION TARIFF BATTLE, TALKS TRADE POLICY
The tariff issue pits domestic manufacturers against the downstream part of the sector, such as project developers and installers, which rely on imports.
Biden issued the emergency declaration in June 2022 as the Commerce Department was actively investigating whether solar cell and module products manufactured by Chinese-parented companies in Cambodia, Thailand, Vietnam, and Malaysia are circumventing existing duties on Chinese solar imports.
Biden said the decision was meant to create a "bridge" for solar developers to continue importing products while domestic solar manufacturing increases.
Commerce had opened the investigation months before at the request of California-based solar manufacturer Auxin Solar, which argued it faces unfair competition from competitor imports skirting U.S. trade law.
Commerce later issued a preliminary determination in December finding that a number of companies are circumventing duties on Chinese products, paving the way for tariffs to be extended to those products. Opponents of Biden's solar emergency said the findings strengthened their case.
The Solar Energy Industries Association, the nation's premier solar lobby, and a number of Democratic lawmakers opposed the resolution on the grounds that Biden's order was a reasonable compromise. Without it, supplies would be interrupted and therefore threaten national climate goals, they argued.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
The Senate will take up the resolution of disapproval next. Several Democrats have announced support for the measure, including Sens. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and Joe Manchin (D-WV).
Source: Washington Examiner
