IHS Markit Quotes Suzanne Kane on Energy Security as a Trade Issue
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Akin Gump international trade partner Suzanne Kane has been quoted in the IHS Markit story “National Climate Advisor McCarthy promises jobs focus as part of US climate agenda.” Kane spoke at a recent Energy Storage Association conference addressing the topic of energy storage. Her panel looked at the nexus of U.S. energy security and U.S. trade policy.
Kane noted that U.S. policy is likely to evolve from former President Donald Trump’s stance, which included declaring last year that the Department of Energy would be in charge of securing the nation’s bulk-power system. On the particular issue of the minerals needed for renewable power and energy storage, Kane said the Biden administration is “reviewing a broad range of Trump [administration] policies, though we’re not sure specifically where China tariffs fall in that broader review.” Trump, the article points out, imposed a series of tariffs on Chinese exports to the United States of manufactured goods and also minerals.
On the one hand, Kane said, President Biden and his Commerce Secretary nominee, Gina Raimondo, have made it clear they will continue the prior administration’s tough stance with China. There is also strong bipartisan support in Congress to maintain the tariffs, she said.
At the same time, though, Kane added that the Biden administration “has stated it will continue to work with China on areas of concern, including climate change. So, clean energy is an issue. We are hopeful that with the priorities of the administration in mind, they will review the Section 301 tariffs and the products covered by it.”
One possibility, Kane pointed out, is to roll back tariffs on some items that are particularly strategic for the clean energy industry. Another, she suggested, is to reopen the process by which importers from China could seek exclusions to the tariffs. The Biden administration, she said, has “wide discretion” to change the exclusion criteria, perhaps granting more exclusions than were approved under prior reviews.
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