(Washington) Joe Biden issued an executive order on Friday to extend for four years the customs duties on solar panels which had been initially imposed by his predecessor Donald Trump to protect American manufacturers who are facing stiff competition in particular from China.
Posted yesterday at 5:04 p.m.
These surcharges, imposed in January 2018, had marked the start of a series of protectionist measures that had led to the trade war between the United States and China as well as with its main trading partners.
“I believe that an extension of this safeguard measure will result in more economic and social benefits than costs”, indicates Joe Biden in his decree.
US tariffs on solar panels initially amounted to 30% in the first year before decreasing by 5 percentage points each year over a four-year period.
Those rates were due to expire this week. But several American manufacturers had asked for their extension, arguing that they were still necessary to support the national industry which was able to regain ground against foreign competition.
The Biden administration also intends to promote domestic production while accelerating the transition to clean energy.
The White House says the 14-15% tariffs are being extended on imported crystalline silicon solar products that are used to convert sunlight into energy.
However, the Biden administration has decided to double the amount of solar panels that can enter the country without customs duties, and has declared that it will start talks with Canada and Mexico to consider an increase in imports from these two partners.
Certain types of solar products are also exempted, in particular double-sided panels, in order to encourage the deployment of solar energy in the United States.
“Administration officials have reached a balanced solution by maintaining the exclusion of double-sided panels while increasing the quota for imported panels,” said Abigail Ross Hopper, president of the Energy Industries Federation. solar (SEIA) in a press release.
“SEIA has been fighting for more than three years to preserve the exclusion of bifacial panels, a product not available in the United States on a large scale,” she explained.
She recalls that this is an innovative technology that will help improve energy production and reduce costs “in the utility sector”.
“This is a huge step forward in clean energy production in America and in the fight against climate change,” she finally said.