Scott leads effort to nix Biden waiver for CCP-linked solar companies using ‘slave and child labor’
WASHINGTON, D.C. (FLV) – The U.S. Senate approved legislation to crack down on China’s reported violation of American trade laws by circumventing restrictions through third-party countries.
Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., who led the effort, said China’s solar panel manufacturing relies on “slave and child labor” along with subsidies and “trade abuses.”
The resolution was approved and awaits President Joe Biden’s signature. It would nullify a Department of Commerce rule that provides exemptions for solar panels made in certain countries, such as Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam.
“Xi’s regime started sending Chinese-made solar products, made with slave labor, to Southeast Asian countries and claiming they were made in the corresponding nation,” Scott’s office said.
“[The rule] allowed Chinese solar manufacturers to circumvent U.S. tariffs by delivering their products to the U.S. through third-party countries, all to the detriment of American companies and workers,” they said.
Scott said the “41 Democrats” who voted against his resolution, in effect, voted that it was “OK that China can make [solar panels with] slave labor.”
“The Democrats and Joe Biden got to start standing up – and there’s something wrong here,” he said. “Joe Biden continues to pacify the Chinese. I don’t know what they have on him, but every day it’s something that he pacifies the Chinese.”
“I want to thank all my colleagues who supported this CRA [Congressional Review Act] and Congressman Bill Posey for his hard work getting it passed in the House of Representatives,” Scott said in a press release. “Now, this CRA heads to the president’s desk, and I urge President Biden to sign it and stand up to Communist China.”
Rep. Bill Posey, R-Fla., said that existing American trade rules allow the Chinese Communist Party to get “closer to dominating the solar market.”
“I applaud Senator Rick Scott and supporters in the Senate for taking the lead on this bipartisan issue and standing up for American competitiveness,” he said.
