The Circumvention Times

April 21, 2022

Welcome to the Circumvention Times newsletter. This is a bi-weekly update from SEIA's on the job-killing solar tariff investigation.

Here’s what’s inside:

  • Topline tipoffs: the most important thing happening this week on the Commerce Department’s ill-advised case
  • Lay of the land: we’ll update you on the case, give you inside information on the state of play and provide information on the industry’s advocacy efforts
  • The latest talking points and market impact data
  • The biggest news stories driving the conversation
  • A rolling update of fresh social media posts to help you weigh in online

The goal of the newsletter is to give you resources and information that will help you engage with us on this devastating case.

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of respondents report that at least half of their solar and storage workforce is at risk

Topline Tipoffs

This week, the topline tipoff is the human toll of the Auxin Solar tariff petition. More than 700 companies completed SEIA’s survey on how the case is affecting their workers and businesses, and the stories are devastating. More clean energy business owners and workers are starting to come forward about the impact of this case on their livelihood, and SEIA is helping to share those stories in a new blog post.

Here are some of their stories:

  • A single mother who has worked in the solar industry for more than a decade wrote that the case “puts me in a state of panic about how I will survive and provide for my child.”
  • A solar business owner says the threat of tariffs “puts a complete stop to our workforce, our business model, and is sure to destroy the careers and livelihood of all of us here.”
  • Frightening words for the future of the U.S. clean energy economy: “This will be the final blow that causes us to shut down.”
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of respondents report severe or devastating impact on solar business

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of respondents report delayed or canceled module supply.

Lay of the Land

It has now been over three weeks since the Commerce Department said it’s thinking about slapping a 50%-250% tax on the solar industry, and the fallout has had a detrimental impact on the solar industry’s ability to function. The data points to a bleak outlook for companies that were ready to grow the clean energy economy. In New Mexico alone, a local company expects to cancel 1 gigawatt of solar capacity, sacrificing 1,400 construction jobs. The #SolarShutdown is completely avoidable, and the worst part is that it undermines two critical Biden Administration goals — lowering prices for consumers and rapidly deploying clean energy. This investigation is instead taking us in the opposite direction. Solar industry leaders are bringing this message to Washington, DC the week of April 25 as part of SEIA’s Executive Media Day and Executive Lobby Day. Leaders will be meeting with national reporters and key policymakers face-to-face to share how this investigation is hurting businesses and workers. This DC blitz will kick off a series of member-focused activities this spring and summer as we await the Commerce Department’s preliminary determination on August 29. We are looking forward to working with many of you virtually and in-person in the weeks and months ahead. As part of a comprehensive social media strategy, SEIA is running an aggressive digital ad campaign to urge key decision-makers to end this investigation.

See examples of the campaign below:

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of domestic manufacturers that responded to the survey said this case will have a devastating or severe effect on their ability to operate

Talking Points

  • The decision to initiate the Auxin Solar tariff petition is already having a devastating impact on solar deployment and directly contradicts the Biden administration’s climate goals.
  • The case amounts to a 50-250% tax on the solar and storage industry and is exacerbating price increases and supply chain issues.
  • More than 80% of companies in SEIA’s survey say their solar panel supply has already been canceled or delayed, and as a result, 70,000 American jobs and 30,000 megawatts of solar projects are at risk.
  • This is the single biggest threat that the U.S. solar industry has faced in at least the last decade.
  • After the job and deployment losses we’ve seen from previous solar trade restrictions, this is not a case of crying wolf, as opponents claim. It is an existential risk to workers and America’s clean energy progress.
  • It has been proven time and again that tariffs are not the right way to stimulate investments in domestic manufacturing. In fact, 80% of U.S. solar manufacturers say this case is having a severe negative impact on their business.
  • The case will effectively shut down the solar and storage industry and impede efforts to deploy clean and reliable energy at a time when the United States needs to be focusing on energy independence and security.
  • President Biden’s Commerce Department has caused utter chaos and panic in the solar industry and must immediately put an end to this misery.

News Stories Driving the Conversation

Bloomberg: Biden Probe Into Solar Imports Risks 65% of Planned U.S. Projects

Albuquerque Journal: Trade Dispute Threatens US, NM Solar Commerce

The Colorado Sun: Colorado Solar Companies Delay Work, Warn of Catastrophe from U.S. Commerce Import Probe

PoliticoPro: Wind and Solar Prices Soar Amid 'Supply-Demand Imbalance'

VT Digger: Tariff Investigation Causes Disruptions for Vermont Solar Companies

Social Posts of the Week

For maximum impact, please share these posts:

We’ve said that tariffs are not the right way to incentivize manufacturing, and that it is going to take time and policy commitment to move manufacturing into the United States at the scale that’s needed. The countries named in the petition have been reliable trading partners, and we need their products, in the near term at least, while we fight to establish a sustained and powerful manufacturing presence here in America.
— Abigail Ross Hopper, President and CEO, Solar Energy Industries Association

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