During President Joe Biden’s first week in office he signed an executive order directing the federal government to, where possible, procure goods and services within the U.S. before turning abroad. Later, when he announced his $2 trillion American Jobs Plan in Pittsburgh in March, the president called for investing $100 billion in solar and other forms of renewable energy.
These are good ambitions, but there is a conflict.
Polysilicon is a key material in the manufacturing of solar panels. It’s the substance that generates electricity from sunlight. The global solar sector has concentrated about 40% of its polysilicon production in the Xinjiang province of China, which is under scrutiny for human rights violations including forced labor and “re-education camps” for its Uighur Muslim population.
The Biden administration must be aggressive in its championing of human rights by looking elsewhere for its solar materials.
This will be no easy feat, as China produced just over 80% of the world’s polysilicon in 2020.
There are American manufacturers producing their own materials, but not nearly enough to keep up with the increased demand Biden’s plan calls for if it passes. Therefore, federal and state government should buy American where possible and develop plans to incentivize domestic polysilicon production.
Since American production is not currently up to demand, we should turn next to other international manufacturers in places such as Canada or South Korea, both of which host polysilicon producers.
At the same time, the U.S should use its influence as a potential large-scale customer to create an international consortium to pressure the Chinese to abolish forced labor practices.
Some lawmakers are leading the way in the public pressure campaign. Sens. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., and Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., have asked the U.S. Solar Energy Industries Association, the national trade association for solar energy, how it and its member companies have responded to allegations of human rights violations in Xinjiang, asking for details about how the companies are ensuring that the materials are not being made using forced labor.
Additionally, eight Republican senators have introduced legislation to ban the use of federal funds to purchase solar equipment from Xinjiang. Such a ban could cripple the U.S. expansion of solar power, but if no alternative presents itself and the violations do not stop, it could become necessary in the short term.