Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said Wednesday she plans to confront China about its excessive production of clean energy technology such as solar panels, electric vehicles and lithium-ion batteries in her next meeting with Beijing officials.
Her announcement adds to growing tensions between Washington and Beijing over clean energy technology production and trade.
Earlier this week, China accused the U.S. of violating global trade rules by excluding EVs made with Chinese critical minerals from Inflation Reduction Act subsidies. In recent months, U.S. trade groups such as the Solar Energy Manufacturers for America have raised concerns that an influx of cheap Chinese exports undermines the Biden administration’s goal of building domestic clean energy industries.
“China’s overcapacity distorts global prices and production patterns and hurts American firms and workers, as well as firms and workers around the world,” Yellen said during a visit to the Suniva solar cell manufacturing plant in Norcross, Georgia.
