Congressman Krishnamoorthi Leads Letter Of 85 U.S. Representatives To President Biden Asking To Expedite The Commerce Department Inquiry Into Solar Tariff Circumvention

WASHINGTON - Last night, Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi (IL-08) joined Representatives Scott Peters (CA-52), Kathy Castor (FL-14), Sean Casten (IL-06), Deborah Ross (NC-02), Donald Beyer Jr (VA-08), Mike Levin (CA-49), Susie Lee (NV-03), Emanuel Cleaver II (MO-05), and Jared Huffman (CA-02) in leading 75 of their colleagues in a letter to President Biden on the harmful impacts on the solar industry of the U.S. Department of Commerce anti-circumvention inquiry into crystalline silicon photovoltaic (CSPV) cells and panels imported from Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand, and Cambodia, urging the Administration to act expeditiously and to take into account the economic and environmental implications of new duties on imported solar cells, in as far as is possible under the law. The letter was endorsed by the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), the American Clean Power Association, the American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE), the Edison Electric Institute (EEI), the International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE), United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America (UBC), and Evergreen Action, and echoes similar letters sent by prominent environmental and labor groups, including the UBC, the IUOE, Sierra Club, League of Conservation Voters, EarthJustice, Evergreen Action, Rocky Mountain Institute, and Rewiring America.

"If Commerce makes a positive determination-finding evidence of circumvention-Anti-Dumping/Countervailing Duties (AD/CVD) as high as 250% could be applied retroactively to all CSPV cells and panels that were imported from the countries in question since the initiation of the inquiry and potentially even earlier," the Members wrote. "This possibility has effectively frozen all imports of CSPV cells and panels from these countries, which account for more than 80% of CSPV panel imports and 54% of the panels used to meet domestic demand."

"Just over a month into the investigation, this inquiry has already had a devastating impact on the American solar industry," the Members continued. "A recently released survey of over 700 solar companies found that 83% of respondents were experiencing delays or cancelations from their CSPV suppliers. A project-level survey found that more than 50 gigawatts of new solar projects are currently canceled or delayed because of the Commerce inquiry. Modeling suggests that these cancellations and delays could cost the industry more than 100,000 jobs and increase CO2 emissions by an additional 364 million metric tons of CO2 between now and 2035, which is the equivalent emissions of 97 coal-fired power plants"

In support of the Members' letter, Thomas J. Flynn, General Secretary-Treasurer of The United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America, said "The UBC has thousands of highly skilled carpenters and millwrights that are anxious to go back to work helping to build the nations clean energy solar fields. We would encourage swift action by the Commerce Dept."

James T. Callahan, General President of the International Union of Operating Engineers issued a statement in support of the effort as well: "We appreciate Congressman Krishnamoorthi's leadership on this letter. Expanding tariffs on products from these countries will risk the loss of 100,000 American solar jobs, including thousands of Operating Engineers' jobs. In addition to employment loss, these tariffs would also increase both costs to ratepayers and carbon pollution. The threat of these tariffs has already resulted in hundreds of projects being delayed or cancelled. The longer this situation persists, the more acute the damage will be."

In total, the letter had 85 signers (including 10 co-leads*): Reps. Krishnamoorthi*, Peters*, Castor*, Casten*, Ross*, Beyer*, Levin* (CA), Lee* (NV), Cleaver*, Huffman*, Welch, Horsford, Panetta, Neguse, O'Halleran, Carter (LA), Swalwell, Butterfield, Rush, Manning, Carson, Tonko, Cicilline, Tlaib, Titus, Quigley, Grijalva, Pingree, Jacobs, Perlmutter, Moulton, Cárdenas, Wasserman Schultz, Davis (D, IL), Craig, DeSaulnier, Auchincloss, Bishop, Connolly, Kind, Crow, Barragán, Ocasio-Cortez, Kuster, Kelly, Malinowski, McEachin, Veasey, McNerney, Davids, DeGette, Strickland, Coleman, Newman, Langevin, Matsui, Sherrill, Rice (NY), Espaillat, Himes, Aguilar, Blunt Rochester, Carbajal, Porter, Lieu, Schiff, Scott (GA), Crist, Nadler, Omar, Trahan, Adams, Clarke, Soto, Price, Stansbury, Ruiz, McGovern, Lawson, Axne, García (IL), Lowenthal, Clark, Stanton, Phillips

To read the letter, click here.