House Resolution on Solar Tariffs Could Harm Workers and Delay Clean Energy Transition

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WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the House will vote on a Congressional Review Act (H.J.Res 39) resolution to overturn President Biden’s two-year pause on the collection of tariffs for solar panels from Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam. The temporary moratorium on solar tariffs was intended to ensure the flow of solar cells and modules to the United States while the Commerce Department investigates whether companies are circumventing the tariffs on China. The Sierra Club joined other major environmental groups in a letter opposing the CRA and supporting family-sustaining union jobs in the clean energy sector in the United States.

In response, Hebah Kassem, Director of Sierra Club’s Living Economy Program, released the following statement:

“The Sierra Club fully supports the goal of significantly growing the domestic supply chain of crucial solar components in the coming years — a goal that can and will be realized thanks to the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). With U.S. solar manufacturing capacity able to meet only about one-third of current demand, our domestic industry needs time to scale production and support good union jobs. 

“President Biden’s two-year tariff moratorium offers a practical compromise that allows continued progress in our clean energy transition in the near term while catalyzing the effort to dramatically increase the domestic manufacture of solar modules, cells, and other components in the United States.”

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About the Sierra Club

The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with millions of members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.