House Passes Bill to Overturn Pause on Solar AD/CVD Circumvention; Veto Promised

A majority in the House voted to restore antidumping and countervailing duties on Southeast Asian solar panels ruled by the Commerce Department to be circumventing antidumping duties on the products from China, but the 221 votes in favor are far from a veto-proof majority.

Eight Republicans voted April 28 to keep the two-year pause on trade remedy collections for these panels; a dozen Democrats voted to reverse the administration's action.

Rep. Bill Pascrell, D-N.J., one of those votes against the pause, said in a hallway interview at the Capitol after the vote, "I'm tired of the Chinese bad behavior, and this is how I demonstrated it."

Pascrell said he expected President Joe Biden to veto the resolution of disapproval if it also passes the Senate. "He usually follows through on what he says."

The Senate does not need 60 votes to pass the resolution, and, if all Republicans stick together there, there appears to be a majority for ending the pause in that chamber.

However, because enough time has passed that the resolution no longer qualifies for fast-track in the Senate, according to the Congressional Research Service, the decision to call up the resolution for debate is controlled by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y..

Schumer's office did not respond to questions from International Trade Today.

After hesitating on what action to take earlier in the week (see 2304260071), Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden, D-Ore., now says he'd vote to end the pause. In an e-mailed statement, Wyden said, "I support full enforcement of U.S laws that defend American workers and manufacturers against trade cheating, especially when it comes to clean energy. Suspending tariffs on Chinese solar cells and modules that have been determined by the Department of Commerce to be circumventing U.S. trade laws will make America less competitive in the clean energy economy." His office said there would be no markup in the Finance Committee; it would go straight to the floor.

Rep. Don Beyer, D-Va., a House Ways and Means Committee member, said in a hallway interview at the Capitol before the House vote that he was mystified as to why the Senate Finance Committee chairman would go against the president, but that he expects the Senate could pass the resolution, too, given support by Wyden and a few other Democrats.

Beyer said he voted against the resolution because a 254% retroactive tariff on panels would put solar installation companies out of business. "This is just trying to get the chance for solar installation to continue apace until American manufacturing can pick up the slack," he said. He added: "The irony is, I believe, that the company who filed the [circumvention case] has not yet made a single solar cell."

He said Republicans' arguments that the solar panels should not be imported because of the taint of forced labor in their production are "silly" because the law on forced labor already prevents importation of panels with inputs made with forced labor. Panels made in Southeast Asian countries have been detained repeatedly under the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act.

House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith, R-Mo., said on the floor before the vote: "We know China is cheating. And that’s precisely why members of both parties were stunned and disappointed when the White House made the misguided decision to halt for two years additional tariffs on Chinese solar products being sent through these four countries.

"The United States must maintain crucial protections for American workers and our economy as a whole. We cannot surrender to China or any other country and put American workers at a disadvantage."

The Democrats who voted to restore the tariffs were a mix -- members from vulnerable seats, trade skeptics, primarily from the Midwest, and some new members, though not every one fit one of those profiles.

Rep. Susan Wild, D-Pa., is a member from a swing district, and she said it was an easy choice to keep the tariff pause. She said she heard from stakeholders in her district that the pause is important, and she heard that from labor, environmental and manufacturing stakeholders.

Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Mich., an advocate for domestic auto manufacturing and labor unions, said she sided with the president, though she added: "It was a very difficult vote for me. I want to see jobs here in this country. Trade is becoming a very complicated issue."

The Solar Energy Industries Association, which lobbied against the circumvention case from the start, reacted to the vote by saying that if the resolution succeeds, there would be $1 billion in retroactive duties, and those costs would cause 30,000 job losses in the industry.

CEO Abigail Ross Hopper said in a statement: "The two-year solar tariff moratorium was imposed as a strategic bridge to stand up U.S.-based manufacturing capacity while allowing developers to keep building projects and move us toward our clean energy goals. Companies are making massive investments in manufacturing facilities across the country thanks to the IRA, and all this legislation serves to do is undercut American businesses as they invest billions in capital and seek to employ thousands of workers.

"We are urging senators to see through this political charade and examine the facts at hand.

“The United States cannot produce enough solar panels and cells to meet demand, and the remaining 14 months of this moratorium gives us time to close the gap."