The Hill News

In his State of the Union address, President Obama proclaimed that he would not cede the solar industry to China through a lack of commitment. Unfair Chinese trading practices demand that he keep this pledge immediately or risk surrendering the industry to China.

The United States created the solar industry and its technological leadership ensured its development. Bell Labs’ researchers invented the first silicon solar photovoltaic device in 1954 and government researchers furthered industrial development. Despite the 2009 recession, the U.S. government invested $7.1 billion in solar R&D, compared to $1.32 billion from the E.U., and nothing from the rest of the world, including China. Yet today, China accounts for three-fifths of the world’s solar-panel production and exports 95 percent of its production, much of it to the United States.

Against this backdrop, an epic battle is now occurring. Seven U.S. manufacturing companies, the Coalition o! f American Solar Manufacturers (CASM), filed antidumping and countervailing duty complaints against China with the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) and Commerce Department. CASM has argued that imported, illegally subsidized Chinese solar cells and panels are destroying U.S. manufacturing jobs and injuring the U.S. industry. Almost immediately, Chinese exporters and some U.S.-based assemblers and installers challenged the U.S. manufacturers, arguing that reducing subsidized Chinese imports would reduce U.S. jobs, through higher consumer prices and dampened demand for solar panels. They have warned of a “trade war” and have telegraphed threats of retaliation. So far, preliminary rulings from the ITC and Commerce have favored the U.S. manufacturers.

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