U.S. Solar Industry Rebukes Shadow Group’s Tariff Petition

WASHINGTON, D.C. — In response to an anonymous petition for circumvention tariffs on solar imports from Southeast Asia, the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), the national trade group for the U.S. solar and storage industry, sent a letter to U.S. Department of Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo to refute the credibility of this baseless case.

The letter notes the legal deficiencies of the case and refutes a series of false narratives set forth by the group of petitioners, including the flagrantly false claim that SEIA rejects the need for domestic manufacturing and other allegations about SEIA’s interests.

Following is a statement from SEIA president and CEO Abigail Ross Hopper on the petition and why Commerce must reject it:

“Let me be clear: SEIA is the voice of America’s solar industry and represents the interests of American solar workers and companies. SEIA is leading the fight against these tariffs to protect this country’s 10,000 solar companies and 231,000 solar workers from the monied interests behind this petition.

“Without the integrity to identify who they are and who they represent, a shadow group of anonymous petitioners are recklessly asking our government to misinterpret U.S. law, upend the lives of thousands of American families and undermine any hope we have to mitigate the devastating impacts of climate change.

“SEIA was right to assert that the tariffs have failed the U.S. industry. We forecasted that the Section 201 tariffs would cause significant loss of deployment, jobs, and investment, and we now know that at least 10 gigawatts of solar installations, 62,000 American solar jobs and $19 billion in investment has been lost as a result. Meanwhile, the petitioners in the Section 201 case expected the tariffs to lead to 45,000 new manufacturing jobs when we actually lost thousands of manufacturing jobs in the four years since.

“Now the anonymous petitioners have brought on the same counsel as the Section 201 case to offer the same false promise. SEIA can confidently project that if circumvention tariffs are imposed, the U.S. will miss out on another 46,000 solar jobs by 2023, including 15,000 lost manufacturing jobs. The tariffs are ineffective, and we need long-term federal investments to drive domestic production, such as Senator Ossoff’s bill to provide a production tax credit for U.S.-made solar equipment.

“The bottom line is that the climate can’t afford these tariffs. Commerce should reject these baseless petitions now because the climate, the economy and thousands of American jobs are on the line.”

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About SEIA®: 

The Solar Energy Industries Association® (SEIA) is leading the transformation to a clean energy economy, creating the framework for solar to achieve 30% of U.S. electricity generation by 2030. SEIA works with its 1,000 member companies and other strategic partners to fight for policies that create jobs in every community and shape fair market rules that promote competition and the growth of reliable, low-cost solar power. Founded in 1974, SEIA is the national trade association for the solar and solar + storage industries, building a comprehensive vision for the Solar+ Decade through research, education and advocacy. Visit SEIA online at www.seia.org and follow @SEIA on Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram. 

Media Contact: 

Jen Bristol, SEIA’s Director of Communications, jbristol@seia.org (202) 556-2886