The United States Trade Representative is getting rid of the bifacial solar module tariff exclusion again

Hand writes “Tariff Change” on blackboard. Nation sighs.

Feel like I’ve written this headline 100 times already. Anyway, the U.S. Trade Representative called for removing Section 201 tariff exclusions for bifacial solar modules, again. Not much more to say about it other than it should have been expected. Here’s the obligatory sad trombone response from Solar Energy Industries Association after yet another federal-level dead end for solar.

“The U.S. solar industry is disappointed by USTR’s decision,” says John Smirnow, vice president of market strategy & general counsel. “The industry initially sought this exclusion because there is, and will be for the foreseeable future, an acute shortage of domestic panels used in utility-scale solar projects. Throughout this process, the solar industry has sought to find a middle ground solution that addressed this shortage in a way that did not undermine the objectives of the underlying Section 201 safeguard measure.

“It is unfortunate that USTR chose to pursue a course of action that will needlessly increase the financial burden on America’s energy consumers. We still hope to work with the administration to find constructive ways to grow the U.S. solar manufacturing base and take full advantage of the opportunities the solar industry offers to the American economy’s recovery.”

— Solar Builder magazine

[source: https://solarbuildermag.com/news/the-united-states-trade-representative-is-getting-rid-of-the-bifacial-solar-module-tariff-exclusion-again/]