House Lawmakers Pressure Settlement in Ongoing Chinese Solar Dispute
The Commerce Department’s ongoing investigation of Chinese solar panel dumping in the U.S. market threatens to cost U.S. solar jobs and prevents cheap consumer access to solar power, said 23 House lawmakers in a May 28 letter to President Barack Obama. The administration should work to conclude a negotiated settlement with China over the dispute, said the lawmakers. Seven senators sent a similar letter to Vice President Joe Biden in April (see 14041111).
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Commerce aims to preliminarily determine by July 24 whether Chinese and Taiwanese companies are dumping crystalline silicon photovoltaic products into the U.S. market (see 14052318). The investigation will likely lead to additional tariffs and more Chinese retaliation, said the lawmakers. “Additional tariffs will increase costs for the entire solar supply chain and cause domestic solar prices to rise drastically,” said the letter. “Continuing to let this dispute play out one case at a time will limit job growth, and it may even lead to job loss.”
Coalition for Affordable Solar Energy President Jigar Shah also pressed for a negotiated settlement. “At a time when the future of U.S. solar should be brighter than ever, ongoing trade litigation is instead saddling businesses and customers with higher solar product costs and creating pricing uncertainty that is scaring away investment,” said Shah in a press release. “We need to find a win-win negotiated settlement and I urge President Obama to help bring SolarWorld to the table with a reasonable list of requests.”