Georgia Senators Urge Biden for Tougher Tariffs on Chinese Solar Panels

A bipartisan quartet of senators, led by two Democrats from the critical swing state of Georgia, is asking President Biden to raise tariffs on Chinese solar panels or face an oversaturated market, just as the president's clean energy tax credits come to fruition. come to market.

“We must not allow China to destroy American manufacturing and control this strategic energy sector,” reads a new letter to Mr. Biden, led by Senator Jon Ossoff of Georgia and co-signed by Senator Sherrod Brown, an Ohio Democrat who is in a difficult situation. re-election battle, as well as Senator Marco Rubio, Republican of Florida, and Senator Raphael Warnock, Democrat of Georgia. “We urge you to increase and enforce tariffs on these Chinese solar products, which threaten the U.S. economy and energy security.”

The issue goes to the heart of one of Mr. Biden's arguments for re-election: that his economic policies have begun to transform the U.S. energy economy while combating climate change. Georgia has benefited from generous tax policies that have led to massive investments in new solar panels and battery factories for electric vehicles.

But Chinese government policies have kept pace with even greater industrial subsidies, driving down the cost of Chinese solar panels and leaving the U.S. industry in its infancy, a potential political threat to Mr. Biden as he makes his re-election bid.

The Biden administration did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The solar industry is divided over how strict tariffs should be on solar panel components from China and Chinese subsidiaries in other countries. Some panel makers have warned that U.S. factories announced by the industry and touted by Mr. Biden could be delayed or suspended because of Chinese competition. But companies that use the cheap imported components from China and its subsidiaries elsewhere have been more cautious.

The senators, no doubt considering their own political future, are putting their fingers on the scale.

“China's aggressive subsidies for its own solar industry demonstrate its intent to control the industry globally,” they wrote. “By 2026, China will have sufficient capacity to meet annual global demand for the next decade. This capacity poses an existential threat to the U.S. solar industry and U.S. energy security.”