A complaint against China filed in February by Auxin Solar, a small player in the American photovoltaic sector, continues to make waves in the United States. It has destabilized the entire solar energy sector in the United States and prompted President Joe Biden to invoke exceptional powers on Monday to promote "made in the USA" solar panels.
Joe Biden has solar panels in his eyes. An American presidential decree , adopted Monday, June 6, multiplies initiatives to increase American production and imports of solar panels.
The American president invoked, on this occasion, an exceptional law dating from the Korean War which makes it possible to impose on American producers to concentrate on certain products. In 1950, it was armament, this time it's solar panels, supposed to help the United States reduce its dependence on fossil and polluting energy sources.
And while waiting for the American productive apparatus to get in working order, this decree also provides for the lifting for two years of customs tariffs on imports of solar panels sold by Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia and Vietnam.
The Don Quixote of solar panels?
This decree was warmly welcomed by climate activists, who took turns in recent days to congratulate the tenant of the White House. "This is a big step in the right direction on the part of the government, which thus recognizes that we are facing a climate emergency requiring a general mobilization worthy of the Second World War to ensure the transition to renewable energies as quickly as possible" , underlined Varshini Prakash, deputy director of the Sunrise Movement, a group of young people who position themselves on the left of the Democratic Party. "We hope that this decree marks a turning point in the policy of the administration in favor of measures to better fight against global warming", added Jean Su, responsible for questions of
Professionals in the solar energy sector also applauded the presidential initiative with both hands, underlines The Guardian . All ? No, because a voice has been raised to denounce the temporary lifting of customs tariffs. “By adopting this unprecedented measure, the president has just opened the door to pro-China interests that are active in circumventing the application of American trade laws,” reacted Mamun Rashid, CEO of Auxin Solar, a modest American solar panel manufacturing company, interviewed by the Financial Times on Tuesday, June 7 .
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Until recently, the positions of this entrepreneur counted for little in the world of solar and photovoltaics (transformation of the sun's rays into electricity), and even less in the national debate. His company produces no more than 2% of the solar panels sold in the United States.
But everything changed at the end of February 2022 when Mamun Rashid decided to become a sort of Don Quixote of American solar panels at war with Chinese photovoltaic mills. He then filed a complaint with the Secretariat of Commerce, accusing China of illegally circumventing customs tariffs on exports of solar panels.
It is, paradoxically, the actions of this critic of the presidential decree that partly motivated Joe Biden to come to the aid of the American solar panel sector, underlines the Financial Times.
Because behind the headlines in the media on this presidential decree, there is the small story of a Californian company of barely 50 employees which became in a few months " the most hated company in the world of solar energy “, according to the Wall Street Journal.
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