Kerry: We Need Better Trade Policy So We Can Import Chinese Solar Panels, ‘Prepared to Negotiate’ with China to Advance ‘World’s Interests’

During an interview with Bloomberg on Wednesday, Special Presidential Envoy for Climate Change John Kerry said that the U.S. needs to get its “trade policy aligned in a way that can work better” on importing Chinese solar panels, and “we’re prepared to negotiate and work with China on climate in order to try to advance the world’s interests.”

Host David Westin said, “As you suggest, we need to get the relations in the right place in a lot of ways in order to really make progress together on climate. But I’ll give you another contradiction, and that is with respect to the renewables, solar panels imported from China, the United States is putting restrictions on. We have trade problems as well that sort of are pointing in two directions at once.”

Kerry responded, “Correct. … There are solar panels piled up at docks in Asia waiting for shipment, and they can’t be shipped, which is slowing down our ability to be able to deploy, even in our country, and elsewhere. We need to get our trade policy aligned in a way that can work better. But that has to be negotiated, and you’ve got to sit down and find a way to begin to communicate on that. So, hopefully, that will happen. As I said, we are prepared, President Biden has made a commitment to President Xi, which he’s absolutely prepared to keep today, tomorrow, we’re prepared to negotiate and work with China on climate in order to try to advance the world’s interests. This is not a bilateral issue. It’s a universal one. It’s a universal threat to everybody on the planet and all of us need to pull together as fast as we can.”

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