China’s Energy Trade Is Adversely Affected by US Tariffs

China's commerce ministry said on Saturday that the US extending tariffs on solar products is hurting international energy trade and hindering the development of clean, low-emissions energy. On Friday, President Joe Biden  extended taxes on imported solar equipment for another four years, but decided to exempt double-surface panels that produce power on both sides, which are commonly used among major US projects. Donald Trump used his authority under section 201 of the 1974 trade law to impose a tax on solar imports in 2018. Taxes started at 30% and dropped to 15%. In a statement China's Ministry of Commerce said, "Despite strong opposition from interested parties at home and abroad, the US government has insisted on expanding the Article 201 measures, which not only helps the healthy development of domestic US industry, but also disrupts the normal order of international trade in photovoltaics." China said it hoped the United States would take "concrete steps" to facilitate free trade in new energy products and "contribute to the global development of a low greenhouse gas emissions economy". Due to increasing protectionism abroad and increasing domestic demand, China's solar power producers have focused on the domestic market. China's solar capacity rose to 306.6 GW last year, a record 54.9 gigawatts (GW). It aims to increase its total wind and solar power capacity from 635 GW at the end of last year to a total of 1,200 GW by the end of ten years.