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President Biden’s decision to extend most Trump-era tariffs on solar cells and panels has rekindled that bipartisan accusations are killing American jobs.
You s. The American Solar Energy Conservation and Cost-Reducing Act, the brainchild of Jacky Rosen, Nevada Democrat, and Jerry Moran, Kansas Republican, seeks to rescind the order and establish a program to increase U.S. production and production of solar panels and other solar panels. energy components.
Biden’s extension of the Section 201 tariffs that Mr. Trump implemented in 2018 has been interpreted as a balancing act as he seeks to protect the US solar industry while lowering some tariffs to help with the climate change agenda.
He made the decision just two days before the tariffs expire. It issued a four-year extension earlier this month, but slashed tariffs from 30% to 18% and relaxed restrictions, such as excluding tariffs for a solar panel component used in large-scale projects and doubling the number of solar cells that can be imported. duty free.
Extension tried to protect domestic production during the lobbying of labor unions. The relaxation of some restrictions would also support an important climate agenda item by helping the clean energy sector expand and gain access to affordable, essential parts from abroad.
Still, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have made clear their distaste for the tariffs, repeatedly labeling the effort as “job-killing solar tariffs.”
“We must work to support domestic solar generation capacities in a way that does not suffocate American solar distribution, increase energy prices for consumers, or reduce job opportunities for American workers,” Mr Moran said in a joint statement with Ms Rosen.
“The current policy has not worked,” said Ms. Rosen. “The United States now has the highest solar panel prices in the world.”
A bipartisan coalition of senators, including Ms Rosen, has long advocated for Biden to end the tariffs. They lobbied for Mr. Biden to repeal them even before he took office. And other efforts to repeal Mr Trump’s directive have never been successful.
While the price of solar application in the US has fallen sharply in recent years and decades, it remains higher than in many other developed parts of the world.
The Solar Energy Industry Association, a vocal opponent of the tariffs, estimates that the tariffs have cost the U.S. solar industry about 13,000 jobs since its implementation by Mr Trump in 2018. They also say that about 20,000 new solar jobs never materialize. and almost 90% of existing jobs in the solar industry are non-manufacturing, resulting in a large reliance on panel supply.
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