WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) is leading bipartisan legislation to block taxpayer money from going to Chinese solar and clean energy companies.

Brown and U.S. Senators Bill Cassidy (R-LA), Jon Ossoff (D-GA), and Rick Scott (R-FL) today introduced the American Tax Dollars for American Solar Manufacturing Act to crack down on efforts by China to undermine American manufacturing. The legislation would prevent taxpayer dollars that are designed to support American advanced manufacturing from going to Chinese-controlled companies.

"We cannot allow American tax dollars to go to Chinese companies that cheat and undermine American solar manufacturing. Our bipartisan bill will make sure that only American companies are supported by taxpayer dollars, and support the creation of manufacturing jobs throughout the solar supply chain across Ohio," said Brown. "We will not allow the Chinese government to take down the American solar manufacturing industry."

"Our Federal manufacturing incentives are driving historic economic development in Georgia and across the country. As these policies fuel record growth in solar manufacturing, tax incentives shouldn't be used by Chinese solar companies that threaten our energy security," Senator Ossoff said. "That's why I'm partnering with Senators Brown, Cassidy, and Scott on this bipartisan bill to strengthen American energy independence and manufacturing."

Senator Rick Scott said, "Communist China has been working to circumvent U.S. laws and undermine American manufacturers in the solar industry for years under the Biden/Harris administration, harming our national security and energy independence. I've been fighting to close this unfair practice and prevent the U.S. government from sending any U.S. tax dollars to prop up the Communist Chinese regime, one of our biggest adversaries, and I'm glad to continue those efforts with the American Tax Dollars for American Solar Manufacturing Act. The United States and the tax dollars of our citizens must be working in the best interests of our nation, its businesses and building our energy impendence, not benefiting Communist China and its genocidal regime."

"High-value American solar manufacturing delivers tangible benefits to the US economy in the form of tens of thousands of good paying jobs and billions of dollars in economic output and value," said Mark Widmar, chief executive officer of First Solar. "It is imperative that the US solar manufacturing industry, which should not be confused with companies simply assembling modules in the US with high-value-add imported components, is granted a level playing field allowing it to compete on its own merits."

"We applaud Senators Brown, Cassidy, Ossoff, and Scott for introducing this bipartisan bill to prohibit China from receiving IRA tax credits funded by American taxpayers," said Michael Stumo, CEO of the Coalition for a Prosperous America (CPA). "It is critical that Congress close the loophole that allows Chinese companies-which are already subsidized by the CCP and are violating U.S. trade law-to be eligible for IRA tax credits. Congress must ensure that American taxpayers' dollars are used to strengthen our own industrial base, not to subsidize our greatest geopolitical and military threat."

The bipartisan legislation will help level the playing field for American workers and manufacturers while strengthening American energy independence and national security. The legislation would ensure that only American manufacturers with a genuine domestic supply chain benefit from tax credits intended to strengthen American energy independence by building out the supply chain for solar, wind, critical mineral, and battery projects. The legislation specifically cracks down on efforts by the Chinese Communist Party to undermine U.S. national security and Ohio's manufacturers by preventing any company with ties to a Foreign Entity of Concern from receiving the 45X Advanced Manufacturing Tax Credit. These restrictions are based on the same Foreign Entity of Concern rules that became law, on a bipartisan basis, as part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law in 2021.

Full text of the legislation can be found here.

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