U.S. Trade Commission’s Solar Imports Decision Endangers Climate Progress

WASHINGTON— The International Trade Commission today sided with two U.S. solar companies on claims that imported solar cells have made their products uncompetitive. The case now goes to a remedy phase, where the ITC will make recommendations to President Trump.

If the case results in tariffs on imported solar panels, the U.S. solar industry could be upended, hurting efforts to move toward rooftop solar and other forms of distributed generation and reduce greenhouse emissions.

“The trade commission made an enormous and dangerous mistake in its liability finding,” said Howard Crystal, a senior attorney with the Center for Biological Diversity. “Now we have to make sure it proposes remedies that don’t impair the incredible potential for distributed solar on rooftops and other areas. In the wake of Harvey, Irma and Maria, we need to push our clean energy transition forward to combat climate change.”

The Center will be submitting comments to the ITC during the remedy phase explaining that import tariffs pose tremendous risk not only to the growth of the domestic solar industry, but to national efforts to transition to a clean and just energy economy.

By making solar less competitive, tariffs would threaten to stifle America’s critical clean energy transition and extend the country’s reliance on polluting energy sources that are fueling climate change.