Two of the more recent quotes in this series came out of our November 20 event on the EGA, the Environmental Goods Agreement being negotiated in Geneva. And indeed, we have not yet finished with that session. There will be at least one more TTALK Quote from it. The event was useful and very upbeat. Every speaker highlighted the trade
and environmental benefits that a successful agreement on trade in environmental goods might produce. And, in our view, all of them were correct.
That is not to say, however, that environmental goods are immune from the controversies that plague other sectors. They are not, and these cases on solar products make that point quite emphatically.
Trade cases like these are always complicated, and today's supply-chain driven world makes them more so. We will leave the determinations offsetting tariffs and injury to the experts at the Commerce Department, specifically the International Trade Administration (ITA), and the International Trade Commission. ITA is expected to make its final determinations next week, and, as we have said, the ITC is expected to vote on injury in January.
Congressional Input. But there are things here that merit comment, starting with the political input. Hearings like the one at the ITC last Monday are largely dominated by the interested parties and their lawyers. It is not unusual, though, for politicians to weigh in, and indeed Senator Wyden was not the only elected official to do so. Congressman
Richard Nolan (D) of Minnesota also addressed the Commission.
Mr. Nolan represents Minnesota's 8th Congressional District, effectively the northeast quadrant of the state, including Duluth on Lake Superior and the Mesabi and Vermillion iron ore ranges. The district is also is home to a Silicon Energy facility, another firm harmed by imports from China and Taiwan. As Mr. Nolan put it:
"The situation was extremely disturbing in light of the fact that the people of my district had worked so hard to diversify our economy by attracting Silicon Energy to Northern Minnesota - a region critically short of jobs and historically dependent upon mining tourism and timber.
"We have a natural resource-based economy - timber, taconite, and tourism - and what is better for our region than solar energy, a true natural resource."
We applaud both Senator Wyden and Representative Nolan for fighting for their constituents. For a member of the House or Senator, that's part of the job.
The China Factor. For a very long time now, America's has been the largest economy in the world. It still is by a large margin. In individual sectors, however, that is no longer the case. The world's largest market for automobiles today is China. And China is also the world's largest producer and the largest user of solar panels. And certainly the Chinese government is involved or the U.S. wouldn't be imposing countervailing - as well as antidumping - duties on solar products from China. China's global dominance in this arena may not be legally relevant to the issue before the International Trade Commission today, but it does have relevance for U.S. trade policy going forward.
This brings us to our only quarrel with the testimonies mentioned here. Both Senator Wyden and Representative Nolan talked about fairness. Senator Wyden said: "It isn't that American solar can't compete, it is because China isn't playing by the rules."
Representative Nolan said,
"I understand the goals of what is termed 'free trade' - but in my judgment the goal we should be striving for to preserve and create good jobs here in America is 'fair trade.'" Our view is that, beyond adherence to agreed international rules, "fairness" is a difficult concept in international relations, including trade relations. We would suggest that the United States should aim for
successful trade, just as her competitors do. Of course, properly implementing one's own laws must be part of a strategy for successful trade. But more is required. And indeed more is being pursued, as in the TPP negotiations over rules for state-owned enterprises. Obviously, there are many other elements as well. All we are suggesting here is a shift in emphasis.