June 6 (UPI) — President Joe Biden on Monday authorized the Defense Production Act and temporarily suspended trade tariffs on four Southeast Asian nations to increase domestic production of solar panels and other industry technologies in the United States.
Biden declared a 24-month tariff exemption for solar panel products from Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam amid an investigation by the U.S. Commerce Department into whether the countries sidestepped U.S. tariffs on imports of solar equipment from China.
“In recent years, the vast majority of solar modules installed in the United States were imported, with those from Southeast Asia making up approximately three-quarters of imported modules in 2020,” Biden wrote in the declaration published by the White House on Monday.
The tariffs had been put in place by the administration of former President Donald Trump but were extended by Biden for four years in February.
The Commerce Department said in a news release that tariffs on “Chinese and Taiwanese imports of solar cells and modules” will remain in effect.
“Multiple factors are threatening the ability of the United States to provide sufficient electricity generation to serve expected customer demand,” Biden said.
“These factors include disruptions to energy markets caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and extreme weather events exacerbated by climate change.”
Biden said that drought conditions, which affect the production of hydroelectric power, coupled with heatwaves “are simultaneously causing projected electricity supply shortfalls and record electricity demand.”
“Solar energy is among the fastest-growing sources of new electric generation in the United States. Utilities and grid operators are increasingly relying on new solar installations to ensure that there are sufficient resources on the grid to maintain reliable service,” Biden said.
The Solar Energy Industries Association, which has opposed the inquiry from the Commerce Department, said last week that “more than 300 U.S. solar projects are on hold due to the Biden administration’s #SolarShutdown, putting thousands of jobs and billions of dollars of investment at risk.”
“President Biden’s action today will directly protect American workers, businesses, and the climate, while positioning the U.S. to be a global leader in #solar manufacturing,” the trade association said Monday.
George Hershman, the CEO of the company SOLV Energy, called Biden’s move “the best news the solar industry has had in months.”
“President Biden’s decisive leadership enables companies like mine to move forward on stalled projects and bring solar workers back to our jobsites,” he said in a statement.
“While I applaud the President for his leadership in building a brighter future today, the lingering threat of tariffs stemming from the ongoing circumvention case will continue to jeopardize our clean energy progress. I strongly urge the Department of Commerce to work toward a swift end to this case and put the solar industry fully back to work.”
The share prices of solar energy stocks rose Monday in the aftermath of the announcement.
Shares in Array Technologies, a provider of utility-scale solar tracker technology, had increased by more than 18% by midday while shares of Sunrun rose by more than 11% and shares in SunPower and Enphase Energy each increased by around 7%.