{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["http://nolan.house.gov//media-center/in-the-news/mesabi-daily-news-nolan-to-itc-close-solar-loophole", "Mesabi Daily News: Nolan to ITC: Close solar loophole", "2014-12-11", "2014", "2014-12", "Democrat", "House", "MN", "Rick Nolan", "N000127", "nolan.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON \u2014 U.S. Rep. Rick Nolan has gone to bat before the International Trade Commission for Minnesota\u2019s Silicon Energy, which has a solar panel plant in Mountain Iron. The 8th District congressman on Monday urged the ITC to close a trade law loophole that allows China and Taiwan to dump solar panels that circumvent trade duties into the U.S. marketplace.\n\t\u201cU.S. innovation and efficiency started the worldwide growth of solar, and will continue to fuel that growth so long as unfair trade practices are not allowed. But that is not what is happening in the solar manufacturing market in America that circumvent U.S. trade duties.\n\n\t\u201cInstead, U.S. solar manufacturers have been devastated by China\u2019s buildup of massive amounts of state-sponsored solar capacity. This has led to a surge of dumped and subsidized imports from China causing an unprecedented price collapse in the U.S. market and tremendous injury to U.S. producers,\u201d Nolan testified.\n\n\tThe congressman told ITC commissioners that the unfair trade practices by China and Taiwan have led to 20 U.S. solar companies closing their doors, going bankrupt or announcing significant layoffs.\n\n\tSilicon Energy is supporting an ongoing case brought by SolarWorld\n\n\tIndustries America, Inc., that would close the loophole and make it a more fair playing field for U.S. manufacturers that use American made cells in their solar products.\n\n\tNolan praised the commission\u2019s earlier rulings to cut down on solar imports from China and Taiwan.\n\n\t\u201cThe U.S. market has stabilized, allowing U.S. solar manufacturers to increase sales and reclaim some market share,\u201d Nolan testified.\n\n\tBut the congressman then warned that if the loophole is not closed, \u201cthe harm to the U.S. industry and its workers will continue and worsen.\u201d\n\n\tSilicon Energy, which has seen its workforce fluctuate from about 10 to 15 employees since it opened in 2011, also had a shutdown earlier this year because of defects in its product that forced them to be replaced under warranty.\n\n\tSilicon Energy, which has its corporate office in Washington state, received a $1.5 million seven-year forgivable loan at 3 percent from the Iron Range Resources & Rehabilitation Board in June 2010.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["http://nolan.house.gov//media-center/in-the-news/mesabi-daily-news-nolan-to-itc-close-solar-loophole"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.9658550843596458, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}