Uyghur Group Calls For End To Biden’s Solar Emergency Declaration; House Ways & Means Agrees

The Uyghur Human Rights Project put out a statement on Tuesday calling for the end of President Biden’s Emergency Declaration on solar imports from Asia, made in June 2022.

Their comment came on the eve of a House Ways & Means Committee markup of a bill (H.J. Res. 39) that seeks the removal of that emergency issue by the President, made last year. It passed. They agreed with the Biden solar emergency’s got to go.

The Uyghur group had their own reasons for going after the declaration, a more emotional plea to Capitol Hill.

“The Chinese polysilicon and solar-component industries are highly dependent on mining and manufacturing in the Uyghur homeland, using central government subsidies and incentives, and under the auspices of the government of Xinjiang,” wrote Louisa Greve, Director of Global Advocacy for the Uyghur Human Rights Project.

The Uyghurs are a Muslim group living in the far eastern Chinese province of Xinjiang. The United Nations declared in their definitive report on the Uyghur plight last August that China was committing wanton human rights abuses there.

Biden signed the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention law last year, which bans most products from Xinjiang on the presumption that they were tainted by forced labor or prison labor. Xinjiang is China’s leading producer of polysilicon, which is used to make solar cells.

The emergency declaration, however, has nothing to do with that law.

This declaration was made because of the Ukraine war. The White House expressed concerns over a supply chain crisis in Ukraine and the impacts that might have on the U.S. energy grid, for some reason. The White House used that to issue a two year pause on all tariffs of imported solar made by Chinese companies in Southeast Asia. Those companies were under investigation by the Commerce Department for dumping product and circumventing tariffs. That investigation continues, but any tariffs imposed as punishment would not be put into effect because of this declaration.

The Uyghur group is against the declaration on the grounds that the Chinese solar supply chain is tainted with forced labor workers from Xinjiang, Greve said.

“An increase in solar imports from Chinese solar manufacturers — regardless of whether these imports are from China or Chinese controlled factories in Southeast Asia—directly supports the Chinese solar industry’s use of Uyghur forced labor,” Greve said.

According to U.S. government trade data, imports of solar cells and panels from Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam have risen 69% since 2019.

A new Coaltion for a Prosperous America/Morning Consult poll this week said that 85% of likely voters were concerned that forced labor is being used in China’s solar panel manufacturing supply chain. Some 56% of respondents said they were in favor of repealing Biden’s solar declaration. Only one in 10 voters opposed its repeal.

Biden’s Solar Emergency Declaration came after intense lobbying by the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), a trade association that counts Chinese solar manufacturers as members. Some have been implicated in the use of forced labor in Xinjiang through third party contractors, based on reports by the Helena Kennedy Center of the Sheffield Hallam University in the U.K.

The American Prospect reported in May 2022, that “SEIA’s membership includes U.S. subsidiaries of Chinese producers JinkoSolar, JA Solar, Trina Solar, BYD, and LONGi Solar, which are the dominant solar component manufacturers in the world.”

On December 22, the Commerce Department said BYD Hong Kong, Trina Solar, Vina Solar (formerly Vietnamese, now Chinese owned) and Canadian Solar, which is all Chinese manufactured, were breaking U.S. trade laws.

The Morning Consult poll also found that 76% of likely voters support requiring U.S. trade associations to disclose their relationships with Chinese companies and their U.S. subsidiaries.

According to SEIA, solar prices have come down over the years due to new technology and more supply.

The group always argues against import duties on its China members, citing concerns over a decline in solar deployment, something easily sold to climate change wary politicians keen on going green in a hurry.

Yet, despite anti-dumping duties on mainland China since the Obama years, coupled with extra tariffs imposed by the Trump administration, solar deployment continues apace. SEIA expects a 21% growth rate this year, according to its fourth quarter Market Insights report.

The House Ways & Means Committee voted with a strong bipartisan 26 to 13 vote in favor of ending Biden’s solar emergency Wednesday morning.

From there, the resolution goes to floor votes in the House and Senate. A two-thirds majority in favor of its repeal makes it veto-proof.

If it is not veto proof, President Biden would have the final decision whether companies that Commerce declares to be circumventing U.S. trade laws — and for Uyghur activists, may have been built with the help of forced labor — should be granted a two year pause on tariffs.