Keeping solar competitive

Source: BY MATTHEW CHOI, Politico • Posted: Wednesday, January 26, 2022

The House introduced the text of its competitiveness bill Tuesday night, dubbed the America COMPETES Act. The package includes a host of incentives for domestic research and development as well as $52 billion in semiconductor funding. But it also includes provisions stiffening trade rules that will cause conflicts with the Senate passed version, Pro’s Gavin Bade reports.

Just hours before the bill text dropped, five U.S. solar manufacturers called on congressional leaders to include legislation to improve antidumping and countervailing duty laws as part of the final competitiveness package, making the case that effective trade laws are crucial to the future success of U.S. solar manufacturing.

The manufacturers wrote they strongly support the Eliminating Global Market Distortions to Protect American Jobs Act of 2021, H.R. 6121/S. 1187, which was introduced last year to strengthen federal trade lawand will introduce “necessary tools” to combat anticompetitive practices. That bill was included in the House version Tuesday. The letter was signed by the heads of Q CELLS America, First Solar, Suniva, Auxin Solar and Heliene USA.