Electrical Equipment / Components & Telecoms

According to Huacheng Import and Export Data Watch, US President Biden will veto a newly established bipartisan resolution, which intends to cancel the exemption issued by the United States Department of Commerce for solar products shipped from Chinese companies to the United States through four Southeast Asian countries.

On April 24th, Biden issued his veto opinion to lawmakers. The White House stated that the legislation may "disrupt" the domestic solar industry and bring great uncertainty to employment and investment in the solar supply chain and solar installation market.

Last week, the fundraising committee of the US House of Representatives voted to approve the joint resolution. The committee voted in favor of restoring tariffs on solar modules, and the resolution will also enter the Senate for voting. Congress officially initiates the process of abolishing tariffs on solar modules and suspending them for two years

If the CRA is passed in both houses, President Biden has the ability to veto the measure. Obviously, before further development, Biden has already begun to express his veto, as reported by Huacheng Import and Export Data Observation.

In June last year, Biden waived tariffs on solar modules from Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Malaysia, with the aim of building a "bridge" while developing the US manufacturing industry.

The solar energy dispute can be traced back to February 2022. At that time, Auxin Solar, a solar module manufacturer headquartered in California, asked the United States Department of Commerce to investigate whether Chinese solar companies would assemble products in four Asian countries to avoid U.S. tariffs before shipping them to the United States. Huacheng Import and Export Data Observation reported.

Regarding the practice of "dismantling bridges", the White House firmly opposes attempts to overturn immunity, pointing out that the growth in domestic solar production in the United States indicates the success of Biden's policy.

The adoption of this joint resolution will undermine these efforts and bring great uncertainty to employment and investment in the solar supply chain and solar installation market, "the White House Budget Office said in its statement

This joint resolution highlights the gap between Democrats and those who hope the government will adopt a stronger trade stance towards Chinese companies. The former wants to retain access to cheap materials used in their business, such as silicon wafers and photovoltaic cells, for the solar industry.

The preliminary survey results released by the United States Department of Commerce in December showed that some Chinese solar companies shipped goods to the United States through four other Asian countries (Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam), evading the import tariffs of the United States. Huacheng Import and Export Data Observation reported.

According to relevant predictions, the United States is expected to increase its domestic solar module manufacturing capacity by eight times by the end of 2024. Considering that the US photovoltaic manufacturing industry is taking off, in a government policy statement, the Office of Management and Budget stated that Biden issued a solar import exemption last summer, but he does not intend to extend it beyond June 2024, when these exemptions will expire, as reported by Huacheng Import and Export Data Watch.