Denver — Today, Colorado U.S. Senators Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper joined their colleagues in releasing the following statement in response to the U.S. Department of Commerce issuing a preliminary affirmative determination in their investigation into solar panels and cells imported from Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand, and Cambodia. The investigation itself has caused widespread cancellations and delays in the U.S. solar industry and threatened to expand harmful tariffs on solar imports and raise costs for consumers. The solar industry employs over 230,000 American workers, including over 7,000 Coloradans. According to a report from the Solar Energy Industries Association, 70 percent of U.S. companies say at least half of their solar workforce is at risk as a result of this investigation.
“If we are serious about investing in a clean energy future and creating hundreds of thousands of good-paying jobs, we need to ensure that solar projects across the U.S. have access to the basic components needed to operate, grow, and thrive,” said the senators. “While the Department of Commerce rightfully narrowed the scope of its decision as compared to the original petition, we are concerned that this decision will still harm domestic solar efforts, hinder our clean energy goals, and hurt American jobs. In order to continue supporting such a critical industry and protecting good-paying American jobs, we urge the Biden Administration to take additional action by extending the two-year pause on new solar tariffs and expediting the implementation of the solar provisions, including the solar manufacturing tax credits, from the Inflation Reduction Act.”
Earlier this year, Bennet and Hickenlooper joined bipartisan senators calling for the Biden Administration to expedite the investigation decision and Bennet spoke on the Senate floor to call for a swift end to the Biden Administration’s investigation. Following Bennet and Hickenlooper’s efforts, the Biden Administration announced a two-year suspension of solar tariffs.