WASHINGTON, June 6, 2022 – Today national business association Advanced Energy Economy (AEE) celebrated the announcement from the Biden Administration that it will expand use of the Defense Production Act to include solar panels and component parts, as well as building insulation, heat pumps, electrolyzers, platinum group metals, fuel cells, and transformers. The White House also announced a pause on solar trade tariffs to allow clean energy projects across the country to be built while the country scales up domestic manufacturing of supply chain components. 

“This is a needed stay in a more than decade-long tariff war that has been a loser for all parties,” said AEE CEO Nat Kreamer. “Tariffs only raise costs for consumers and don’t create domestic demand for clean energy. These announcements today provide much-needed stability to the solar industry and the clean energy transition at large, and send the message to Congress that now is the time to act urgently to build the clean energy domestic manufacturing industry this country needs to protect consumers and become energy independent.

“Investments in clean energy technologies, like the ones announced today by the White House, will help develop a robust, U.S.-based advanced energy manufacturing industry that can bolster the middle class, revitalize communities hollowed out by decades of deindustrialization, and expand economic opportunity in frontline communities,” added Kreamer. 

In addition to advocating for a resolution to the Commerce Department investigation as soon as possible, AEE strongly advocated for production-based tax credits to support domestic manufacturing in a business sign-on letter delivered to key lawmakers and to the Administration, as well as for expanding the use of the Defense Production Act in a blog post by AEE CEO Nat Kreamer and messages to policymakers. These policies would complement support for advanced energy manufacturing already included in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.  

Additional Materials: 

• Upcoming Webinar - June 21, 2022: Beyond Tariffs: How Best to Boost U.S. Manufacturing of Advanced Energy