On Wednesday, nine Senate Democrats joined Republicans to denounce President Joe Biden’s regulatory decision that allegedly ignores claims that China is breaking trade laws over solar panels.
The New York Times described the vote to stop Biden’s move as a significant rebuke of the Biden administration’s action, with 56 senators voting in favor and 41 against.
The vote would reinstate tariffs on Chinese solar panels that the communist powerhouse had attempted to avoid paying by importing them through other countries. A regulation that put a two-year hold on those levies was signed by Biden last year.
Biden is anticipated to veto the congressional resolution, and both chambers of Congress need to vote with a two-thirds majority to override the veto.
Several Senate Democrats, including Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin, Sherrod Brown of Ohio, Joe Manchin of West Virginia, Gary Peters and Debbie Stabenow of Michigan, Jon Tester of Montana, and Ron Wyden of Oregon, supported the proposed legislation.
The sole Republican senator to oppose the bill was Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky.
After the House rejected Biden’s rule, the Senate voted to do the same.
“If you choose not to vote, you favor slavery. The bill’s sponsor, Republican Sen. Rick Scott of Florida, claimed on the Senate floor that you don’t want more American employment and that you don’t think our trade policy matters, according to Politico.
This law is in favor of American jobs and opposed to child labor and forced labor in China. According to Fox News, Scott replied, “It’s that easy.
He declared that it is now up to the Senate to complete their work in Congress and send the matter to President Biden’s desk. “This is about human rights; it’s not partisan. I won’t stand by while communist China commits atrocities against its citizens’ human rights, and I hope the U.S. Senate won’t, either.
The Biden administration, according to Brown, cannot have it both ways.
According to Fox News, the Ohio Democrat stated, you can’t say you want American manufacturing to lead the world while allowing Chinese companies, which are frequently given subsidies by the Chinese government, to skirt the law and dump solar panels into the U.S.
Do you stand with Ohio workers, or do you stand with the Chinese Communist Party? That is the question at hand, he added.
Rep. Dan Kildee, a Democrat from Michigan who co-sponsored the House bill with Rep. Bill Posey, a Republican from Florida, hailed the Senate’s decision.
“I am happy to see my pro-American worker legislation passed by the U.S. Senate in a solid bipartisan vote. China is one of the countries that should be held accountable for breaking American trade regulations, he said in a statement.
“The businesses and employees in Michigan and America suffer when we don’t enforce our trade rules. I’ll keep advocating for fair trade and American workers, and I’ll also back initiatives to increase domestic production of solar panels, according to Kildee.
Posey released a statement of his own: “Every day that this rule is in existence, the CCP moves closer to controlling the solar market, making it more difficult for Americans to compete. The Senate’s bipartisan vote today is a significant victory for American solar companies and employees while making China responsible for breaking our trade laws. I commend Senator Rick Scott and his backers in the Senate for taking the initiative on this politically neutral matter and defending American competitiveness.