President Biden is taking a series of executive actions to strengthen and grow the U.S. solar industry.
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According to the White House fact sheet, the Biden administration will take the following actions:
The exclusion of bifacial modules under Article 201 has been deleted.
Bifacial solar panels generally used in utility-scale solar projects are currently exempt from safeguard duties under Section 201 of the Trade Act of 1974. has surged and now accounts for almost all products’ import share. Today, the Biden-Harris Administration announced plans to immediately eliminate this exclusion, which will provide U.S. solar manufacturers with additional Section 201 tariff protection from unfair imports. Importers who have signed contracts for bifacial solar modules for delivery within 90 days of the removal of the exclusion will be able to demonstrate that those contracts continue to use the exclusion during this period.
• End solar bridges and crack down on stocks. June 2022,
President Biden launched a 24-month interim transition plan to provide duty-free access to certain imports from Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam to ensure robust deployment while the domestic solar manufacturing base expands. Since then, U.S. solar manufacturing and deployment have grown significantly. As previously promised by the President, the bridge will be completed on schedule on June 6, 2024, and Southeast Asian producers found to have circumvented anti-dumping and countervailing duties on solar manufacturers in the Republic of China (PRC) will comply with these duties. In addition, when implementing the Solar Bridge, the Ministry of Commerce requires that panels imported duty-free must be installed within 180 days to prevent backlogs. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) announced that it will vigorously enforce this rule, including requiring importers to provide CBP with proof of solar module usage that contains detailed information about the modules deployed.
• Monitor import surges and oversupply. Imports of solar modules from Southeast Asia surged last year, with Chinese manufacturers found to be circumventing anti-dumping and countervailing duties. Chinese companies have recently built new production capacity in these countries, targeting the U.S. market. The Departments of Energy and Commerce will closely monitor import patterns to ensure that U.S. markets are not oversaturated and will explore all available measures to take action against unfair practices.
• Provide additional guidance on domestic content bonuses.
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Comply with certain statutory requirements for sourcing steel products and manufactured goods from domestic producers. Today, the U.S. Treasury Department will release further guidance on the domestic content dividend to enable more U.S. clean energy developers and manufacturers to take advantage of the dividend. While domestic content bonuses have spurred collaborations among U.S. developers and manufacturers, stakeholders have expressed concerns about challenges in determining eligibility. Today’s notice creates a new optional safe harbor that allows energy developers to elect to rely on a default cost percentage provided by the Department of Energy to determine bonus eligibility. Domestic content guidance addresses issues not within this scope, including adding more industries, including offshore wind, to the new elective safe harbor schedule and publishing for projects using elective remuneration (sometimes called direct remuneration) Proposed Rule. In particular, Treasury and the IRS, along with the Department of Energy and other agencies, continue to evaluate potential options to further the IRA’s goal of incentivizing U.S. solar manufacturing, including solar wafer production.
Technology development to support onshore solar wafer and cell manufacturing
G. The U.S. Department of Energy announced more than $70 million in research and development to foster new technologies throughout the solar supply chain. Funding provided by the President’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Act will allow new entrants to the solar manufacturing market to build their technology and gain access to additional capital. The 18 selected projects will fill gaps in the domestic solar manufacturing supply chain, including equipment, silicon ingots and wafers, silicon wafers and thin-film solar cell manufacturing, and open up new markets for the integration of solar technologies such as photovoltaics and agrivoltaics.
• Administer tariff rate quotas for solar cells under Section 201 to support the expansion of solar manufacturing.
Currently, there is a 5 GW tariff quota for imported solar cells under Section 201. The current quota levels ensure that domestic component manufacturing continues to grow while manufacturers scale up production across the supply chain.
National Climate Advisor Ali Zaidi told PoliricusUSA in an interview: “The United States also accelerated the deployment of solar energy last year, and this year’s deployment has set a record. In just the first two months of 2024, the annual increase has exceeded 67% . This is part of a broader trend we’re seeing in the power industry. 2024 is expected to be the year for the most new electricity generation in the U.S., with 96% of that new electricity expected to be generated by clean energy. But in the context of the macro picture, Underlying all this is the investment boom we are seeing in the United States that is threatened by unfair and non-market practices overseas.
Biden is protecting American jobs and clean energy from China’s unfair trade practices. The president knows that by protecting solar energy, he can not only save jobs; He is also saving the earth. While Republicans talk about standing up to China, Biden is doing just that, and in the process leading the country toward a clearer energy future.
