President Joe Biden has more than doubled the volume of solar cells made overseas that can be imported tariff-free to support US panel manufacturers.

Biden doubles+ imported tariff-free solar cells

A White House proclamation released late yesterday increased the volume of silicon solar cells that can enter the US tariff-free from 5 gigawatts (GW) to 12.5 GW. The tariff is currently set at 14.25%.

Donald Trump imposed the tariff-rate quota (TRQ) on solar cells under Sec. 201 of the 1974 Trade Act in 2018 to protect the US solar manufacturing sector against cheaper Asian (mainly Chinese) imports. Biden indicated in May that he would consider raising the TRQ if solar cell imports approached the 5 GW level.

Abigail Ross Hopper, president and CEO of the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), said in a statement:

SEIA strongly commends President Biden’s decisive action to support American solar module manufacturers by raising the Section 201 tariff rate quota on cells. This move provides an important bridge for module producers to access the supply they need while the United States continues to progress on solar cell manufacturing. This decision will help create a strong, stable module manufacturing sector that can sustain robust cell production in the long run.

Electrek’s Take

Biden has made this move because, as I noted yesterday in my post about Ebon Solar announcing it would build a nearly $1 billion solar cell factory in New Mexico, solar cells aren’t yet being manufactured in the US to supply the rapidly growing domestic solar panel manufacturing sector’s needs.

There’s simply no US solar cell industry to protect at present. So, a tariff on imported solar cells at this stage simply makes no sense and helps no one.

Read more: New Mexico just announced a nearly $1 billion solar cell factory

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