“By taking this unprecedented — and potentially illegal — action, he has opened the door wide for Chinese-funded special interests to defeat the fair application of U.S. trade law,” Mr. Rashid said in a statement.
Commerce Department officials said their investigation would continue and that any tariffs that resulted from their findings would begin after the 24-month pause expired. “The president’s emergency declaration ensures America’s families have access to reliable and clean electricity while also ensuring we have the ability to hold our trading partners accountable to their commitments,” Gina Raimondo, the Commerce secretary, said in a release.
A Biden administration official said the administration was invoking Section 318(a) of the Tariff Act of 1930, which allows the president to suspend certain import duties to address an emergency.
But Scott Lincicome, a trade…
