Source: Blog – Alliance for American Manufacturing

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Commerce’s investigation continues, with mandatory questionnaires being sent to leading solar manufacturers.

Last week we took a closer look at the freakout over a Commerce Department investigation into solar panel imports allegedly circumventing anti-dumping duties on goods out of China.

We noted the leading voice in this freakout, the trade association representing installers and importers, doth protest too much.

And we also noted that, in addition to the fact that heavily subsidized Chinese solar manufacturers earned the anti-dumping duties placed on their products, multiple credible reports point say the Chinese solar supply chain draws on forced labor in China’s Xinjiang province.

Unfortunately, the trade association (the Solar Energy Industry Association) and its allies in its Congress didn’t read our masterfully written blog and have continued to call for an immediate end to the Commerce probe. I bet they woke up this morning disappointed; Bloomberg reports investigators have sent mandatory questionnaires to a number of solar manufacturing giants to find out if they’re basically just rerouting unfairly traded panels through third-party countries to skirt U.S. trade enforcement.

The investigation hasn’t been squashed yet. Squash harder, boys!

Is this the first time the Solar Energy Industry Association has opposed lawful trade enforcement? Glad you asked; the answer is no. It opposed the original implementation of these (again, well-earned) anti-dumping duties in 2014 and even provided informal legal advice to the Chinese solar manufacturers who were the defendants in the case, causing one American solar company to call for the resignation of its leadership. From the New York Times back then:

The Solar Energy Industries Association did not respond to a request for comment.

Nice! Anyway, for as many shortsighted lawmakers that have lined up to stump for a glorious clean energy industry with slave labor embedded in its supply chain, others have come out in opposition. The Hill noted a recent letter to Commerce from Ohio senators Sherrod Brown (D) and Rob Portman (R), stressing that “a strong commitment to American manufacturing must be paired with proper trade enforcement,” and another from over a year ago – from senators Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Jeff Merkley (D-OR) – pointing out that some of the companies currently being probed have “‘publicly indicated that they source polysilicon,’ a major component in solar panel manufacturing, from Xinjiang.” That’s where everything is going just fine.

Suffice it to say, Commerce is doing the right thing by looking into this. And if these imports are indeed circumventing (one more time: well-earned) anti-dumping duties, they should be made to pay them. You can tell your lawmakers as much by taking action below.

Tell Congress: Support America’s Solar Manufacturers and Workers!

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