R. Emmett Tyrrell Jr.Solar panels work at the DTE O’Shea Solar Park in Detroit, Nov. 16, 2022. President Joe Biden vetoed on May 16, 2023, a congressional resolution that would have reinstated tariffs on solar panel imports from Southeast Asia, settling for now …are manufactured in China using slave labor.
Today China manufactures 79% of polysilicon, 97% of wafers, 75% of modules and 85% of solar cells using slave labor.calculated that the cost of solar photovoltaic units would surge by 30% to 40% without components sourced from labor in China, underscoring the industry’s reliance on Xinjiang’s slave labor force.
Amid this ethical conundrum, America has taken a firm stand against imports potentially linked to forced labor. The bipartisan Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act presumes any goods originating from Xinjiang areof forced labor unless proven otherwise. The onus, therefore, lies with U.S. companies to provide clear and convincing evidence that their imports from Xinjiang were not produced using forced labor.of solar panel component companies that have been caught using slave labor.
However, President Biden has blocked and vetoed both the Commerce Department’s and Congress’s attempts to prevent companies like BYD, Trina Solar, Vina Solar and Canadian Solar from “transshipping” the solar components through theseThe policy is clear. There should be no opportunity for Chinese goods made with slave labor to enter American markets. China has been dominating the solar market by outcompeting western companies by using state-sponsored slave labor and state-subsidized coal power.