Jarrett Renshaw & Nichola Bride

(Reuters] -The Trump-era tariffs placed on imports of solar energy equipment were extended by the U.S. president Joe Biden on Friday. But, in a concession to U.S. installers, he also relaxed the terms so that a predominant panel technology was not excluded from large U.S. projects.

This was a compromise by the Biden Administration to satisfy two key political constituencies. Union labor supports restrictions on imports to preserve domestic jobs and clean energy developers want to get cheap supplies overseas.

A senior administration official said that the extension of the tariff for four years exempts so called bifacial panel, which are capable of producing electricity both ways and is favored greatly by large scale developers. This technology existed at the time that Trump imposed tariffs, but is used today in large U.S. sunfarms.

Additionally, the extension increases the import quota for solar cells (the main components of panels) to 5 gigawatts and creates a route for duty-free supply by Mexico and Canada.

Auxin Solar, an American domestic solar producer based in San Jose, California, sought to extend the tariffs. However, it said that it was disappointed.

Mamun Rashid (Auxin Chief Executive) stated that “The decision not to include bifacial modulars and to increase the tariff rate quote on cells decreases the value the safeguard to no more than what it is written on,” in a statement.

The American Clean Power Association, a renewable energy trade group, praised the administration’s decision, calling it “a win for jobs and a win for the President’s climate agenda.”

Trump, the former president, imposed a 4-year tariff regime on U.S. solar imports in 2018 under authority under section 200 of 1974’s trade act. This was done in an effort create jobs in U.S. manufacturing. The initial tariffs were 30%, but they dropped to 15% the year after that.

The tariffs had originally been scheduled to expire February 6, but Auxin, four other solar producers in the country, sought an extension last year. Their products are still not able to compete against overseas-made goods, which dominate the U.S. Market due to import stockpiling of companies before the tariffs came into effect, coronavirus panademic, and price inflation.

Trade groups representing the industry countered by stating that Biden’s goals to significantly expand clean energy in the United States and to decarbonize it by 2035, to combat climate change, would be undermined by the continued tariffs.

The majority of panels in America are manufactured in Asia. Solar companies depend on these cheap imports in order to rival energy from fossil fuels.

In November, after three months of review, the U.S. International Trade Commission stated that the tariffs were necessary in order to avoid any harm to U.S.-based solar manufacturing industries. However, the President makes final decisions about whether or not to offer relief to producers.

The senior administration official stated that the President had agreed to accept the U.S. International Trade Commission’s determination and extended the Section 201 Safeguards for an additional four years in order to stop or remediate serious injury to U.S. Solar Manufacturing Sector.”