Rosen Has Been Leading the Effort to Protect the U.S. Solar Industry and American Jobs from Harmful Tariffs
WASHINGTON, DC – During a hearing yesterday of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, U.S. Senator Jacky Rosen (D-NV) pressed Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo about the risks that potential additional tariffs would pose to the U.S. solar industry, including jeopardizing tens of thousands of good-paying American jobs. This follows a Rosen-led bipartisan letter last month calling on Secretary Raimondo to carefully assess the validity of a recently filed petition to expand job-killing tariffs on solar panels and cells imported from Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand, and Cambodia.
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Washington Post: Outlook for solar industry is clouded by Commerce Department probe
Key Points:
- Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), who led a bipartisan letter in March raising concerns with Auxin’s petition, questioned Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo about the probe during a Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee hearing yesterday.
- The tariffs would “jeopardize tens of thousands of good-paying American jobs, raise energy prices for consumers and also undermine the administration’s clean energy [and] climate goals,” Rosen said.
POLITICO: Commerce secretary says hands are ‘very tied’ on solar probe
Key Points:
- Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo pledged Wednesday that her department would move as fast as the law allows on a probe it is conducting into solar module imports from four Southeast Asian countries, but said her “hands are very tied” on the issue.
- Nevada Democratic Sen. Jacky Rosen, who opposed the investigation, pressed Raimondo on the probe’s impact on U.S. solar jobs and companies, and asked the secretary whether she’d consider making an expedited preliminary determination. Currently, the department is expected to present its preliminary findings in late August.
- Rosen also asked the secretary what policy options exist outside of tariffs to spur domestic manufacturing in the solar industry.
The Hill: Solar industry group: Biden administration’s tariff probe will cut planned installations in half
Key Points:
- The top solar energy industry group said Wednesday that it has cut its forecasts for deployment by nearly 50 percent, blaming the Biden administration’s decision to investigate Asian manufacturers amid allegations of dodging tariffs.
- A bipartisan group of senators, led by Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), has also criticized the probe, with Rosen saying it threatens the Biden administration’s own renewable energy goals.
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