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US-China trade war
China

US suspends tariffs on some solar panel imports for two years, but leaves China out

  • Waivers are issued for Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam but not China, the global leader, because of forced labour concerns in Xinjiang
  • Move comes in tandem with White House actions to help spur domestic production of the panels

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An inspection of solar photovoltaic modules used for small solar panels at a factory in Haian in Jiangsu province. The US has kept tariffs on solar panel imports from China, the global leader in their production. Photo: AFP
Robert Delaney

The White House said on Monday that the US would suspend tariffs for two years on solar panel imports from four Southeast Asian countries as part of efforts to address “the urgent crisis of a changing climate” – but left China out of the reprieve.

US President Joe Biden is waiving tariffs on panel imports from Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam “to ensure the US has access to a sufficient supply of solar modules to meet electricity generation needs while domestic manufacturing scales up”, the White House said.

Concerns, though, that China – the world’s largest producer of the panels – is using forced labour as part of its hard-line policies against Uygurs and other ethnic religious minorities in the country’s Xinjiang region led to the Uygur Forced Labour Prevention Act, which Biden signed into law in December.
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At an event hosted by the Washington International Trade Association and the Asia Society Policy Institute on Monday, US Trade Representative Katherine Tai elaborated on the Biden administration’s policy with respect to panel imports from China.

US Trade Representative Katherine Tai said on Monday that while the US imports most of its solar panels from China, “the real challenge we have there is that supply chain runs right through the region of China where we know there’s a significant forced labour problem”. Photo: AP
US Trade Representative Katherine Tai said on Monday that while the US imports most of its solar panels from China, “the real challenge we have there is that supply chain runs right through the region of China where we know there’s a significant forced labour problem”. Photo: AP

Solar energy will “allow the world to be more effective in reaching our climate and our carbon goals, but we are 85 per cent reliant on China as a producer of solar panels”, she said.

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