(RepublicanNews.org) – Chinese solar companies may have to pay more U.S. tariffs after the House voted on April 28th to end President Joe Biden’s financial gifts to Chinese companies.
In 2022, Biden put a two-year freeze on the enforcement of tariffs on Chinese solar panels made in the United States. Former President Barack Obama had put the tariffs in place to protect U.S. solar manufacturing. When Biden paused the tariffs, the White House described this as a “bridge” to help the Chinese companies.
The House has burned that bridge with a bipartisan resolution that would end the Chinese carve-out. The vote was 221-202, and 12 Democrats voted in favor. A companion bill is expected to be taken up by the Senate in the first week of May.
House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-MN) said Biden’s protection of Communist Chinese business interests was “another demonstration of weakness from an already spineless administration.”
The bipartisan group that introduced the House legislation said tariffs on Chinese-made solar panels were necessary to give U.S. solar companies a chance to get firmly established. China’s solar production sector is much larger than the U.S.’s current capacity.
Several months ago the Commerce Department started investigating the question of whether Chinese solar companies were sending solar panels through various third-party countries on their way to the U.S. The suspicion is that China is doing so to sidestep tariffs. In December, the Department published initial findings showing four manufacturers diverted their goods through Malaysia, Vietnam, and Cambodia.
The Commerce Department will release a complete report in May.
The Biden White House is not happy with the House’s move and is promising to veto any legislation that reaches the President’s desk.
The tariffs are popular with some groups such as the Coalition for a Prosperous America, which said the House resolution was “common sense” legislation that holds foreign manufacturers accountable for violating U.S. trade law.
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