Is the United States going to impose tariffs on photovoltaic modules again? Someone is trying to undermine the Inflation Reduction Act
On April 19th, the U.S. House Fundraising Committee officially approved the Congressional Review Act, initiating the process of abolishing President Biden's decision to suspend solar tariffs.
Last year, a local US company launched a tariff investigation that caused serious damage to the US solar and energy storage industry, resulting in multiple projects being cancelled or delayed. In June 2022, President Biden ordered a two-year suspension of tariffs to ensure that the United States can obtain sufficient supply of solar modules and meet power generation needs while expanding its domestic manufacturing industry.
Last August, President Biden also signed and passed the 'Inflation Reduction Act', aiming to enhance investment and construction in multiple domestic fields, including new energy. Since the bill was passed, the newly announced investment in manufacturing will increase the manufacturing capacity of solar modules in the United States to over 47GW, which is five times the capacity of the United States in 2022.
However, some lawmakers are attempting to use the Congressional Review Act to reverse the president's claims and undermine the positive impact of the Inflation Reduction Act.
If the Congressional Review Act is passed, SEIA predicts that 4GW of planned solar projects will be cancelled, accounting for 14% of the planned deployment in 2023. Private clean energy investments will lose $4.2 billion, and 30000 industry jobs will be eliminated, including 4000 manufacturing jobs.
Abigail Ross Hopper, President and CEO of SEIA, stated: A few lawmakers are playing with the fate of the US solar and energy storage industry as they threaten to impose $1 billion in retroactive tariffs. Companies are actively investing in domestic manufacturing, but reintroducing ineffective tariffs at this stage will only lead to taxation of US solar companies, damaging the market and suppressing demand for US products. These misleading actions will continue to shake the entire clean energy industry in the coming years 。”
SEIA, the Renewable Energy Commission of the United States, and the Clean Energy Association of the United States have also issued a joint letter calling on members of Congress to oppose the use of the Congressional Review Act to trace solar tariffs.
At present, the Congressional Review Act has passed the House Committee and will be voted on by the entire House before being submitted to the Senate. If the bill is passed in both houses, President Biden has the power to veto it. If more than two-thirds of the votes in both houses still oppose the president's proposal, both houses can once again override the president's veto power.
