WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Catherine
Cortez Masto (D-NV), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), and Tammy Baldwin (D-WI)
introduced the Reclaiming the Solar Supply Chain Act to
expand the solar manufacturing supply chain in the U.S., create jobs, and
support our global competitiveness.
“China has gotten pretty good at taking our ideas, monetizing
them, and using them to compete against American workers and businesses using
unfair trade practices to undermine American manufacturing,” said Brown.
“We need to couple strong trade enforcement with a strong manufacturing sector.
By investing in American solar manufacturing, this legislation works to reduce
our reliance on solar components made in the People’s Republic of China. It is
our opportunity to fight back and invest in renewable energy technologies that
will drive the next generation of U.S. economic growth and manufacturing to be
developed in America, and to put people to work at good-paying jobs in Ohio.”
The
Reclaiming the Solar Supply Chain Act would authorize
the Secretary of Energy to provide $3 billion in grants and loans over the next
5 years to fund the construction of new U.S. facilities that manufacture solar
components, as well as to retool, retrofit, or expand existing facilities that
manufacture solar components. The legislation also supports good-paying union
jobs by ensuring that any solar manufacturing facility in the U.S. that
receives funding has strong labor protections for workers. Representative Val
Demings (D-Fla.-10) has introduced
companion legislation in
the U.S. House of Representatives.
This Act is endorsed by The Ultra Low-Carbon Solar Alliance,
Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), Sierra Club, Securing America’s Future Energy
(SAFE) Center for Critical Minerals Strategy, and American Council on Renewable
Energy (ACORE).
Yesterday, Brown led a bicameral
letter to President
Biden to express support for the Department of Commerce’s investigation into
whether Chinese solar cells and modules are circumventing antidumping and
countervailing duties (AD/CVD) through Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand, and
Cambodia.
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