President Joe Biden on Monday announced a number of executive actions aimed at boosting domestic manufacturing of clean energy technology, including invoking the Defense Production Act to accelerate production of solar panels in the United States.

The president also issued a two-year exemption on tariffs on solar panel imports made in Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam, which White House officials called a bridge measure amid the push for increased domestic production.


What You Need To Know

  • President Joe Biden on Monday announced a number of executive actions aimed at boosting domestic manufacturing of clean energy technology

  • The president will invoke the Defense Production Act to accelerate production of solar panels in the United States, as well as building insulation, heat pumps and other clean energy technologies

  • The announcements come amid a Commerce Department investigation into possible violations from Chinese products, which solar industry groups and analysts say is slowing down the supply chain and putting projects in jeopardy

  • The president also issued a two-year exemption on tariffs on solar panel imports made in Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam

In addition to solar panel parts, Biden’s use of the Korean War-era civil defense law will allow the Department of Energy to expand domestic manufacturing for building insulation, heat pumps, equipment to make and use fuels generated by electricity and efficient heat pumps, as well as transformers and other items critical to power grid infrastructure.

“For too long the nation’s clean energy supply chain has been over-reliant on foreign sources and adversarial nations,” Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said in a statement. “With the new DPA authority, DOE can help strengthen domestic solar, heat pump and grid manufacturing industries while fortifying America’s economic security and creating good-paying jobs, and lowering utility costs along the way.”

News of Biden’s executive actions was first reported by Reuters.

The announcements come amid a Commerce Department investigation into possible violations from Chinese products, which solar industry groups and analysts say is slowing down the supply chain and putting domestic solar projects in jeopardy.

“As droughts cripple the West and Russia’s unwarranted invasion of Ukraine have placed increasing strains on America’s energy market, preventing disruptions to the electric power system, diversifying our energy sources and responding to the climate crisis have never been more urgent, and solar energy is an essential component of meeting those needs,” Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said in a statement.

Raimondo went on to say that “imported solar panels remain an important component to addressing the immediate demands of bringing additional energy sources online and addressing the energy needs of the American people.”

“I remain committed to upholding our trade laws and ensuring American workers have a chance to compete on a level playing field,” she concluded. “The President's emergency declaration ensures America’s families have access to reliable and clean electricity while also ensuring we have the ability to hold our trading partners accountable to their commitments.”

Clean energy advocates cheered Monday's announcements, with one calling President Biden’s actions a “thoughtful approach to addressing the current crisis of the paralyzed solar supply chain.”

“Today’s actions protect existing solar jobs, will lead to increased employment in the solar industry and foster a robust solar manufacturing base here at home,” Abigail Ross Hopper, the president and CEO of the Solar Energy Industries Association, said in a statement, adding: “While the Department of Commerce investigation will continue as required by statute, and we remain confident that a review of the facts will result in a negative determination, the president's action is a much-needed reprieve from this industry-crushing probe.”

“The president’s announcement will rejuvenate the construction and domestic manufacturing of solar power by restoring predictability and business certainty that the Department of Commerce’s flawed inquiry has disrupted,” said Heather Zichal, a former Obama administration official and CEO of the American Clean Power Association.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.