Will Defense Production Act Spur Solar Supply Chain Development?

An expert in international trade policy discusses the Biden Administration’s use of the Defense Production Act, and tariff restrictions, to build a competitive US solar supply chain. --- In early June the Biden Administration invoked the Defense Production Act in an effort to rebuild America’s domestic solar energy manufacturing supply. Simultaneously, the Administration announced that it will prohibit for two years new tariffs on imports of solar cells from four Southeast Asian countries that are under investigation for illegal trade practices involving their solar industries. Through these complementary policies, the Administration aims to accelerate solar power development in the US in the near term, and ultimately to displace solar imports and strengthen US energy security. The policies are controversial, and have implications for domestic industry and the pace of decarbonization, and the rule of law. Robert Scott, Senior Economist and Director of Trade and Manufacturing Policy Research at the Economic Policy Institute, offers a closer look at the Defense Production Act and its potential to spur the development of a robust solar supply chain in the US. Scott examines the policies and trade dynamics that led to China’s dominance in the global solar supply chain, and how the DPA and related trade and industrial policies might create the foundation for a competitive domestic solar manufacturing industry. Robert Scott is Senior Economist and Director of Trade and Manufacturing Policy Research at the Economic Policy Institute. Related Content East Meets West: Linking the China and EU ETS’s https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/research/publications/east-meets-west-linking-the-china-and-eu-etss/ The Not-So-Rare Earth Elements: A Question of Supply and Demand https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/research/publications/the-not-so-rare-earth-elements-a-question-of-supply-and-demand/ China’s Energy and Climate Balancing Act https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/podcast/chinas-energy-and-climate-balancing-act/   Energy Policy Now is produced by The Kleinman Center for Energy Policy at the University of Pennsylvania. For all things energy policy, visit kleinmanenergy.upenn.eduSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.