Auxin Solar, the thumb of American photovoltaics which has brought an entire sector to its knees

Joe Biden has solar panels in his eyes.

An American presidential decree, adopted Monday, June 6, multiplies initiatives to increase American production and imports of solar panels. 

The American president invoked, on this occasion, an exceptional law dating from the Korean War which makes it possible to impose on American producers to concentrate on certain products.

In 1950, it was armament, this time it's solar panels, supposed to help the United States reduce its dependence on fossil and polluting energy sources.

And while waiting for the American productive apparatus to get in working order, this decree also provides for the lifting for two years of customs tariffs on imports of solar panels sold by Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia and Vietnam.

The Don Quixote of solar panels?

This decree was warmly welcomed by climate activists, who took turns in recent days to congratulate the tenant of the White House.

"This is a big step in the right direction on the part of the government, which thus recognizes that we are facing a climate emergency requiring a general mobilization worthy of the Second World War to ensure the transition to renewable energies as quickly as possible" , underlined Varshini Prakash, deputy director of the Sunrise Movement, a group of young people who position themselves on the left of the Democratic Party.

"We hope that this decree marks a turning point in the policy of the administration in favor of measures to better fight against global warming", added Jean Su, responsible for questions of

Professionals in the solar energy sector also applauded the presidential initiative with both hands, underlines The Guardian.

All ?

No, because a voice has been raised to denounce the temporary lifting of customs tariffs.

“By adopting this unprecedented measure, the president has just opened the door to pro-China interests that are active in circumventing the application of American trade laws,” reacted Mamun Rashid, CEO of Auxin Solar, a modest American solar panel manufacturing company, interviewed by the Financial Times on Tuesday, June 7.

Until recently, the positions of this entrepreneur counted for little in the world of solar and photovoltaics (transformation of the sun's rays into electricity), and even less in the national debate.

His company produces no more than 2% of the solar panels sold in the United States.

But everything changed at the end of February 2022 when Mamun Rashid decided to become a sort of Don Quixote of American solar panels at war with Chinese photovoltaic mills.

He then filed a complaint with the Secretariat of Commerce, accusing China of illegally circumventing customs tariffs on exports of solar panels.

 It is, paradoxically, the actions of this critic of the presidential decree that partly motivated Joe Biden to come to the aid of the American solar panel sector, underlines the Financial Times.

Because behind the headlines in the media on this presidential decree, there is the small story of a Californian company of barely 50 employees which became in a few months "the most hated company in the world of solar energy “, according to the Wall Street Journal.

An investigation with serious consequences

This descent into reputational hell dates back to the beginning of the year.

A handful of American manufacturers of photovoltaic panels are then sorry for the failure of the tariffs on Chinese solar panels introduced in 2012 by Barack Obama, then President of the United States, tells the Washington Post. 

The measure was supposed to give a boost to American production, which was unable to compete with Chinese companies heavily subsidized by Beijing and with much cheaper labor.

But after China, the United States fell into the Thai, Cambodian, Vietnamese and Malaysian solar panel.

The unfortunate American competitors quickly suspected Beijing of using front companies from these four Asian countries to evade customs duties.

Some of them have decided to file – anonymously – a complaint against China at the Secretariat of Commerce.

The latter did not want to initiate an investigation as long as the authors of the complaint advanced masked.

It was then that Auxin Solar took up the complaint in its name.

An investigation was then officially launched in March by the Biden administration to determine the merits of this complaint.

And it is this procedure that "brought the entire American photovoltaic sector to its knees", says the Washington Post.

Indeed, if the authorities decide that Auxin Solar is right, all imports of solar panels or components from Asia will be subject to customs duties of up to 50% of the amount of the panels sold.

Including retroactively.

And that's the rub.

No one wants to buy equipment from Asia anymore, for fear of having to pay taxes retroactively.

Since more than 85% of the panels sold in the United States are manufactured or contain materials produced in one of the four countries concerned by Auxin Solar's complaint, the entire American solar market has been exposed. 'stop.

“Nearly three quarters of all projects in the sector for this year had to be interrupted because of this investigation,” concluded Rystad Energy, an American consulting firm, questioned by the Financial Times. 

Auxin Solar has been targeted by very angry industry professionals.

“My employees are harassed online and we receive complaints by mail,” Mamun Rashid told the Wall Street Journal.

The Contradictions of American Policy

A letter was sent to Joe Biden by 22 senators on May 2, to warn the president about the consequences in terms of employment if this investigation was not quickly completed.

And it would not be only an economic question.

Auxin Solar has been accused of jeopardizing Joe Biden's commitments to fight global warming.

NISource, a player in the energy sector, said in mid-May that it had decided to postpone the closure of its coal factories due to the paralysis of the solar panel sector.

Some media have even barely hinted that Mamun Rashid must be funded by the fossil fuel lobby to fight his legal battle.

The latter defended himself, assuring on several occasions that he only committed his own funds in this affair. 

The few voices that support Auxin Solar in his approach emphasize that this whole affair highlights above all the contradictions of American policy, notes the Washington Post.

On the one hand, the United States wants to be tough on Beijing, but on the other, its willingness to move to a "greener" economy still depends a lot on Chinese materials.

“This investigation is necessary because it shows us how independent the United States must be in the field of renewable energy, because otherwise we are at the mercy of a regime that flouts human rights to sell its products cheaper,” Lori Wallach, an international trade specialist for the American Economic Liberties Project, a think tank close to the Democratic Party, told the Wall Street Journal.

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