Biden’s solar tariffs undermine his own climate agenda

IN AN age of rapid technological disruption and economic transformation, policymaking has become more complex than ever. As incomes have risen, so has demand for more and better goods.

New technologies have helped to meet this demand, enabling the development of a wide range of new products, but also made production increasingly complicated. Amid such unprecedented abundance, government policies must be carefully designed to boost output in the right areas. US President Joe Biden’s solar-panel policies show what happens when such efforts fail.

The Biden administration has three major stated objectives: controlling inflation, combating climate change, and creating “good jobs”. Its current approach to solar energy – which includes high tariffs on imported panels and subsidies for solar plants under the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) – undermines all of them.