Agricultural land is shown with solar panels by Cypress Creek Renewables, October 28, 2021, in Thurmont, Md.
Julio Cortez / AP
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Agricultural land is shown with solar panels by Cypress Creek Renewables, October 28, 2021, in Thurmont, Md.
The Biden administration is ending its hands-off approach to a Department of Commerce tariff investigation that has effectively frozen the U.S. solar energy industry.
Survey on whether Chinese solar manufacturers are mismanaging parties through four other Asian countries has cut solar installation forecasts by almost half – and did so at a time when the ambitious agenda Biden White House clean energy is a break in Congress.
One of President Biden’s main goals is to move the country away quickly from fossil fuels and to clean energy.
But a legally required business investigation in response to a complaint from a U.S. solar panel manufacturer has put the administration in a rut: it will immediately try to spur a transition to zero-emission power generation by 2035 and lead A “quasi-judicial” investigation by the Department of Commerce’s administration admitted that it had no legal power to stop or fire the solar industry.
The administration announced a compromise on Monday: the investigation will continue, but solar panels will be allowed to be imported from Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam for two years without fear of standing back tariffs – to give the solar industry a measure of certainty as they await the decision of the Department of Commerce.
Speaking to reporters in the background, a White House official defended the move. The Tariff Act, the official said, authorizes the secretary and president of Commerce to take emergency action. “And here [Biden] is using that authority to ensure the reliable supply of solar components from Southeast Asian countries. … which play a key role in the reliable supply of solar [panels]. “