Biden must end solar war with China

President Joe Biden wants the United States to cut its greenhouse gas emissions in half by the end of this decade. Meeting this goal will require massive deployment of green energy. That will require Biden to do everything he can to restrain the costs of wind, solar and other clean energy sources.

He can start by ending a long-running, ruinous trade war with China over the price of solar power equipment, rejecting calls to extend tariffs on solar products such as the cells that make up solar panels, the fate of which Biden must decide by Monday.

The trade fight dates back to President Barack Obama’s administration, when U.S. solar equipment manufacturers complained about competition with cut-rate Chinese products. The Commerce Department agreed, slapping huge tariffs on Chinese-made solar panels, then expanding them in 2014. President Donald Trump in 2018 raised even more tariffs on solar modules and cells coming from any country.

U.S. solar manufacturers claim that they need protection from predatory foreign governments that unfairly subsidize their solar industries and permit the use of slave labor in their factories. Tariff-backers also argue that the United States should control every step of its solar supply chain to ensure national energy independence.

But the tariffs are passed onto consumers in the form of higher prices for solar panels. This depresses demand.

Running more of the economy on clean electric power is an essential step toward freeing the nation from dependence on foreign oil.