Biden Vetoes Bill Cracking Down On Tariff Loophole That Benefited Chinese Solar Industry
Mary Lou Masters on May 16, 2023
President Joe Biden vetoed a bipartisan bill that would crack down on a tariff loophole that benefited China’s solar industry, according to a White House press release.
Biden previously threatened to veto the legislation that would have restored tariffs on Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam that Chinese companies have allegedly been working out of to avoid U.S. solar tariffs. The president vetoed the bill, which would have repealed the Biden administration’s moratorium on solar tariffs in the four Southeast Asian countries, which the White House believes were necessary to satisfy U.S. demands for solar panel production per Biden’s signature climate law, the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).
“For too long, because of unfair trade practices and underinvestment in domestic manufacturing, the United States has been reliant on China for solar energy products,” Biden wrote per the press release. “From day one, my Administration has bet on America to create a strong solar supply chain. We have worked to create good-paying jobs and build manufacturing facilities in the United States for solar energy and other important global industries — and our plan is working.”
Some Chinese firms, some of which are linked to slave labor, were assembling their products in the four countries to avoid the America’s solar tariffs, a Commerce Department investigation indicated, according to Bloomberg.
“Passage of this resolution bets against American innovation,” the president wrote. “It would undermine these efforts and create deep uncertainty for American businesses and workers in the solar industry.”
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