Biden waives solar panel tariffs, seeks to boost production

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden is invoking the Defense Production Act to increase U.S. manufacturing of solar panels while declaring a two-year tariff exemption on panels from Southeast Asia. He’s attempting to jumpstart an industry key to his climate change-fighting goals that advocates say has been disrupted by a federal investigation.

The White House announced Monday that the moves are being implemented using executive actions and presidential proclamations. They follow months of complaints by industry groups, which argue that the solar sector is being slowed by supply chain problems due to an ongoing Commerce Department inquiry into possible trade violations involving Chinese products.

The Commerce Department announced in March that it was scrutinizing imports of solar panels from Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia and Cambodia, concerned that products…