ITC to propose solar panel trade remedies to Trump

The U.S. International Trade Commission is preparing to submit to President Trump its trade remedy recommendations in the form of tariff rate quotas, and even import licenses, from its global safeguard investigation on imports of solar cells.    The U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) is preparing to submit to President Trump its trade remedy recommendations in the form of tariff rate quotas, and even import licenses, from its global safeguard investigation on imports of electricity-generating solar cells, the ITC said in a statement.
   The action follows the commission’s Sept. 22 determination that solar cells are being imported into the United States, particularly from China, at such increased quantities as to be a “substantial cause of serious injury” to the domestic solar manufacturing industry.
   The commission will forward its report, which in addition to the remedy recommendations will contain its injury determination, certain additional findings, and the basis for them, to the president by Nov. 13.
   “The president, not the commission, will make the final decision whether to provide relief to the U.S. industry and the type and amount of relief,” the ITC said.
   ITC Chairman Rhonda Schmidtlein recommends a tariff-rate quota with an in-quota tariff rate of 10 percent ad valorem and an in-quota volume level of 0.5 gigawatts. For U.S. imports of solar cells that exceed the 0.5 gigawatt volume level, she proposes a tariff rate of 30 percent ad valorem. The tariff rate quota should be implemented for four years and the in-quota level be incrementally raised, while the tariff rate incrementally reduced during the remedy period.
   ITC Vice Chairman David S. Johanson and Commissioner Irving A. Williamson both recommend a 30 percent ad valorem tariff on solar cell imports in excess of 1 gigawatt. In each subsequent year, they recommend that this tariff decrease by 5 percent and that the in-quota amount increase by 0.2 gigawatts. 
   ITC Commissioner Meredith Broadbent proposed quantitative import restrictions, adding that she’s “firmly of the view that damaging the domestic consumers, installers and manufacturers supporting CSPV (crystalline silicon photovoltaic cells) deployment is not an effective way to save domestic producers of CSPV products.”
   She recommended that the United States sell import licenses for solar cells, which should generate about $89 million in the first year and increase at least $14 million each year thereafter. The revenue from the import license auctions would be used to provide development assistance to domestic solar cell manufacturers. 
   “We are pleased that a bipartisan majority of the commission has recommended tariffs, tariff-rate quotas and funding for the domestic industry,” said Juergen Stein, CEO and president of SolarWorld Americas, and one of the supporting petitioners for the ITC Section 201 investigation. 
   “This is a useful first step. The process will now move forward to the president, and we continue to believe that the remedies SolarWorld has recommended are the right ones for this industry at this time. We must ensure countries cannot undermine the remedies by underpricing their products in the U.S. market,” he added. 
   However, the solar power industry, which also comprises installers, remains concerned that heavy-handed trade remedies will cripple the progress of solar energy in the United States and harm numerous businesses in the process. 
   “It’s worth noting that in no case did a commissioner recommend anything close to what the petitioners asked for,” said Abigail Ross Hopper, president and CEO of the Solar Energy Industries Association. “That being said, proposed tariffs would be intensely harmful to our industry. While we will have to spend more time evaluating the details of each recommendation, we are encouraged by three commissioners’ reference to alternative funding mechanisms, including our import license fee proposal.”
   She added that the association looks forward to “collaborating with the Trump administration to arrive at such a solution and we will continue to work with our broad coalition of supporters to impress upon the administration the need for an approach that will not inflate the cost of electricity for all Americans and harm workers, consumers and the U.S. economy.”