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US bans Chinese some solar products

CHINA THE Biden administration has banned products start of 2019 the US has imported only $6mn
used in solar panels from a company in China’s worth of products from Hoshine and more than
Xinjiang region over allegations of forced labour. $150mn in goods containing Hoshine products.
China has blasted the action and denies the slave To put that in context, America’s imports of PV
labour charges. In fact, Beijing says that the US, cells and modules were $8.2bn in 2020, says
in taking this politically charged step, is trying to BloombergNEF.
throttle the Chinese solar industry. The moves could even boost some non-Chi-
Specifically, in a narrow move the adminis- nese companies. The stock of the American
tration banned imports of silica-based products company First Solar, which not use polysilicon
made by Hoshine Silicon Industry Co. and its in its thin-film wafers, rose sharply after the ban
subsidiaries. The US Department of Homeland was announced. First Solar recently said it would
Security’s US Customs and Border Protection double production in the US by opening a plant
(CBP) issued a ‘withhold release order’ on the in Ohio by mid-2023, said the New York Times.
products, which allows CBP to seize imports it But even so, if the ban and other moves are a
believes may be made with forced labour. prelude to more action from the Biden adminis-
Hoshine, based in China’s Xinjiang Uyghur tration, the broader impact could be significant.
Autonomous Region, is the world’s largest pro- Some 45% of the world’s polysilicon comes from
ducer of so-called metallurgical-grade silicon, Xinjiang, while other parts of China supply 35%.
used to make polysilicon and a key raw material “In our view, today’s action may only be the first
in photovoltaic (PV) cells. The cells are often step toward broader limits” on solar materials
made into panels in Xinjiang, then exported from Xinjiang, wrote Kevin Book of ClearView
worldwide. Energy Partners in a research note.
Additionally, the US Department of Com- Such a wider ban could rattle the US solar
merce (DoC) added five companies involved industry, increasing costs of modules and exac-
in silicon production to a trade blacklist, which erbating supply chain bottlenecks as companies
also means that US companies effectively can- scramble to prove that their products are legal.
not export products and technology to them. China dominates the solar sector in all phases
The companies – which likely are believed by of the PV supply chain, and proving that com-
the Biden administration all to have links to ponents made in China do not contain Hoshine
Hoshine, a major player – are Xinjiang Daqo products may be hard, especially given China’s
New Energy, Xinjiang East Hope Nonferrous opacity.
Metals, Xinjiang GCL New Energy Material The Solar Energy Industries Association
Technology and the Xinjiang Production and (SEIA), the Washington-based trade group, has
Construction Corp. Also on the trade blacklist is provided a system so that members can deter-
Hoshine Silicon Industry (Shanshan). mine the origin of their solar goods. But Beijing
The DoC said the companies targeted “have may not allow auditors to play a significant role
been implicated in human rights violations and checking supply chains, said the Wall Street
abuses in the implementation of China’s cam- Journal.
paign of repression, mass arbitrary detention, Broader action could complicate Biden’s
forced labour and high-technology surveillance climate priorities too. The president is advocat-
against Uyghurs, Kazakhs and other members of ing a roll-out of solar and wind projects to help
Muslim minority groups” in the Xinjiang region. achieve an 80% clean power grid by 2030.
The US Labour Department also added Chi- Regardless, even though the sanctions already
nese polysilicon to a bi-annual list intended to announced are narrow, they are symbolic and a
increase awareness about forced and child labour politically sensitive issue. At the recent G7 meet-
in global supply chains. The goods from China ing in the UK, Biden had pushed for other mem-
already on the list range from artificial flowers ber nations to use strong language to condemn
and Christmas decorations to coal and electronic China for forced labour. In a declaration at the
goods. close of the summit, the leaders called on China
In a nod to the country’s relative economic to “respect human rights” and fundamental free-
clout, the White House added: “The United doms, especially in Xinjiang.
States believes that state-sponsored forced labour China lashed out after the Biden announce-
in Xinjiang is both an affront to human dignity ment on Xinjiang solar materials. The US is using
and an example of [China’s] unfair economic “human rights as a disguise” to try to “suppress
practices.” the industrial development of Xinjiang,” accord-
The ban of Hoshine silica-based products is ing to a Foreign Ministry spokesperson. “The
not in itself that significant, despite Hoshine’s rel- United States doesn’t care at all about the Xin-
ative size, and the supply in the US of solar mate- jiang people,” said Zhao Liajing, the spokesper-
rials should not be that affected, say analysts. son. “Their real plots and sinister intentions are
According to the US government, since the to mess up Xinjiang to contain China.” ™

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