U.S. President Joe Biden announced on Friday that he would extend Trump-era tariffs on solar equipment for another four years to protect workers in the industry, but imports of bifacial solar panels would be exempted from tax exemptions and solar cell limits would be increased. However, China’s Ministry of Commerce on Saturday (5th) accused the United States of extending tariffs on solar energy for distorting international trade and hindering the development of green energy.
The Biden administration announced that it would extend former President Trump’s import tariffs on solar equipment for four years to support the development of domestic industries, but relax some import terms, and double-sided solar panels will be exempt from tax. When the policy was introduced, bifacial solar panel technology was still in its infancy and is now a necessity for most U.S. solar power plants.
The solar tariffs were due to expire on Feb. 6, when Trump invoked Section 201 of the 1974 Trade Act to impose a four-year tariff on imports of solar equipment, which was raised to 30% and lowered to 15% in the final year. .
In addition, the Biden administration said that the new import quota for solar cells under the new policy will be doubled from the original. Before the tariffs, the U.S. had 5 GW of solar cells in Chrysostom, and only imported 2.7 GW last year, according to Rystad, an energy research firm.
Some of the policy easing has sparked protests from U.S. solar manufacturers, while installers and developers have become the beneficiaries of the new policy. America’s largest solar energy company, First Solar (FSLR-US), a manufacturer of bifacial solar panels, believes the move will leave the U.S. behind in the race to build a solar supply chain between the U.S. and China.
On the other hand, the U.S. also announced that products made in neighboring Canada and Mexico, which currently import less than 1 percent of their imports, will enjoy duty-free benefits. U.S. solar panel capacity tripled over the past four years, and JinkoSolar (JKS-US), Hanwha Q Cells and LG, among others, have all set up factories in the U.S. in response to the tariffs.
The Chinese Ministry of Commerce is dissatisfied with the new US solar trade policy. The authorities said that the US government insisted on extending the policy despite the opposition of domestic and foreign industries, which not only does not help the development of the US solar industry, but also distorts the fair order of international solar and green energy trade.
China said it hoped the United States would take “concrete action” to promote free trade in green energy products. However, driven by rising international protectionism and growing domestic demand, Chinese solar manufacturers have begun to focus on China’s domestic market in recent years.
China’s solar power generation surged by 54.9 GW last year to 306.6 GW, and the country aims to increase its combined wind and solar power generation to 1,200 GW by 2030, up from 635 GW at the end of last year.