The climate case for Biden’s new China tariffs

The Biden administration expanded tariffs on imported solar panels on Thursday, capping a busy week of escalating trade barriers for climate tech that risks inviting a backlash from China in exchange for cementing the political coalition behind climate policy ahead of a high-stakes presidential election.

The new solar tariffs apply to dual-sided panels that are popular with utility-scale solar farms and constitute the majority of US solar imports, and which had previously been exempted from import duties. In raising the cost to import panels, the administration is delivering a win to the nascent US solar manufacturing industry and its political allies, who have been pushing for more protection from low-cost Chinese competitors — even as solar installers warned doing so could raise costs for consumers. The tariffs follow a suite of other new trade measures unveiled this week on clean tech imported from China, including a 100% tariff on EVs that will hit next year.