(RepublicanDaily.org) – President Biden has vetoed a bipartisan tariff on China for the third time, The Washington Times reported on May 16. Biden has reportedly issued a veto of a bipartisan effort to “restore” tariffs on Chinese national manufactured solar panels. The tariff would have been levied against Chinese company-manufactured solar panels that were produced in Southeast Asia in violation of trade rules and regulations, The New York Times reported.
Previously, Biden had issued a two-year suspension of tariffs on solar panels after importers complained that the tariffs would discourage a “wider adoption” of solar panel products, The New York Times reported.
In the “only the third’ veto in his presidency, Biden has vetoed legislation passed by Congress that would repeal waivers of American tariffs on solar panels imported from Malaysia, Cambodia, Vietnam, and Thailand. Biden’s reason for the veto was reportedly because, in his view, the waivers will build a “bridge” to ramp up the United States’ domestic supply of solar panels, Reuters reported.
The result of the veto is that a waiver of tariffs will continue until “at least June 2024,” ABC News reported. Biden has stated, however, that he does “intend” for tariffs on solar panels to resume after the temporary suspension expires in 2024, ABC News reported.
Legislation to repeal waivers on tariffs in other Southeast Asian countries followed an investigation by the U.S. Commerce Department that found China had been bypassing trade rules by finishing solar panel production in these nations, Reuters reported. The United States reportedly imports about 80% of its solar panel products from these Southeast Asian nations. The domestic solar panel production market has reportedly stated that tariffs are needed to help the domestic market compete with foreign production, Reuters reported.
Democrat Representative Dan Kildee told reporters that the United States would never be able to compete if the U.S. does not hold nations that violate trade rules accountable, Reuters reported. Kildee likewise had stated that Biden’s veto had “failed to hold China accountable,” Fox News reported.
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