Bipartisan group urges the US feds to not back solar industry damaging tariffs

In open letters, a bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers urged the ITC to reject a petition that would slap tariffs on imported solar panels and cells.

The letters that were addressed to U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) Chairman Rhonda Schmidtlein come just days before the ITC holds its first public hearing on the petition on Aug. 15.

“Solar companies in our states believe the requested trade protection would double the price of solar panels,” the Senate letter to the ITC said. “Increasing costs will stop solar growth dead in its tracks, threatening tens of thousands of American workers in the solar industry and jeopardizing billions of dollars in investment in communities across the country.”

The ITC is evaluating a petition that Chinese-owned solar company, Suniva, filed with the agency in April shortly after declaring bankruptcy. It was later joined by German-owned SolarWorld, also in bankruptcy.

The agency is considering whether these two companies out of more than 8,000 across the U.S. solar industry deserve tariff relief that would impact the entire market.