Biden Sides with Chinese Solar Manufacturers, Blocks Probe into Evading U.S Tariffs
Democrat Joe Biden helps China's economy
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Joe Biden’s Department of Commerce took the side of Chinese solar manufacturers and denied a request to probe the firms for evading United States tariffs on Chinese products.
Biden blocked a campaign by American solar manufacturers to ensure tariffs were imposed on Chinese-made solar products after the companies shifted their production to other nearby foreign countries in order to avoid U.S. tariffs.
Coalition for a Prosperous America (CPA) CEO Michael Stumo said in a statement:
“The Commerce Department’s unwillingness to investigate illegal circumvention by Chinese solar companies is a gift to the Chinese Communist Party that comes at the expense of American companies and American workers.
"President Biden promised to create 10 million green new jobs. Instead, this decision ensures that China’s use of Uyghur forced labor in Xinjiang to manufacture polysilicon will continue.
"The Biden administration claims to want to Build Back Better and boost U.S. domestic manufacturing, but a decision like this that only benefits the Chinese Communist Party is a serious red flag that the Build Back Better initiative is nothing more than a slogan."
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The American Solar Manufacturers Against Chinese Circumvention filed a petition earlier this year asking Biden to review whether Chinese solar manufacturers were illegally avoiding tariffs.
Biden was lobbied by 12 Senate Democrats who sent a letter asking him not to impose any tariffs on the Chinese solar manufacturers.
“New tariffs on solar products from these three countries would stall many ongoing and planned U.S. solar projects, negatively impacting every segment of the U.S. solar industry and resulting in significant job losses,” the Senate Democrats wrote.
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Those who signed the letter included:
- Sens. Jacky Rosen (D-NV)
- Tom Carper (D-DE)
- Angus King (D-ME)
- Michael Bennet (D-CO)
- Martin Heinrich (D-NM)
- Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI)
- Dianne Feinstein (D-CA)
- Jack Reed (D-RI)
- Brian Schatz (D-HI)
- Mazie Hirono (D-HI)
- Tim Kaine (D-VA)
- John Hickenlooper (D-CO)
The move highlights the commitment to foreign imports and offshoring manufacturing.
The infrastructure bill provides huge “Buy American” waivers to industries that are able to produce materials for projects overseas instead of in the U.S.
13 House Republicans voted for the bill.
Between 2001 to 2018, U.S. free trade with China eliminated at least 3.7 million American jobs.
Before China entered the WTO, the U.S. trade deficit with China totaled $6 billion.
In 2019, the U.S. trade deficit with China was more than $345 billion.
In 2020, the total U.S. goods trade deficit hit a record $915.8 billion.
Every $1 billion in imports from a foreign country to the U.S lead to American job losses, according to research.
