Nevada Has The Most Solar Jobs Per Capita In Nation, And Senator Rosen Has Led The Fight Against Additional Job-Killing Solar Tariffs
LAS VEGAS, NV – Today, U.S. Senator Jacky Rosen (D-NV) released a statement on the U.S. Department of Commerce’s final determination in their circumvention investigation into solar panels and cells imported from Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand, and Cambodia. The investigation itself caused widespread cancellations and delays in the U.S. solar industry and threatened to expand harmful job-killing tariffs on solar imports and raise costs for consumers. The solar industry employs over 230,000 American workers, including more than 6,000 Nevadans. According to a report issued by the Solar Energy Industries Association, 70 percent of U.S. companies say at least half of their solar workforce was at risk as a result of this investigation.
At the end of last year, Senator Rosen led nine of her Senate colleagues in denouncing the Commerce Department’s preliminary determination and the harm that the investigation had already caused to the industry. At Senator Rosen’s urging, the Biden Administration announced a two-year pause on additional job-killing solar tariffs last year.
“Nevada has the most solar jobs per capita in the nation, and any action that threatens this industry also threatens the livelihoods of thousands of workers in our state,” said Senator Rosen. “While this decision is narrower than the original petition called for, it will still hurt the solar industry and solar companies’ ability to grow. Let me be clear: this misguided decision is going to directly affect our nation’s solar economy. I’ll continue fighting for Nevada’s solar industry and the good-paying, union jobs it creates.”
Senator Rosen has been a strong supporter of Nevada’s solar industry, leading the charge against solar tariffs for years. Senator Rosen spearheaded a bipartisan letter to the Commerce Department to urge Secretary Raimondo to carefully consider the anti-circumvention petition’s validity following the announcement of this investigation. Senator Rosen then pressed Secretary Raimondo about expediting this investigation at an oversight hearing, and later led a bipartisan group of 21 colleagues in a letter to President Biden urging him to expedite and bring the investigation to a swift conclusion. As a follow-up to her letter, Senator Rosen led a group of senators in a call with White House officials to stress the damaging impact of the investigation on solar projects and jobs in their states.
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