Today, five trade associations representing the American steel industry urged the Treasury Department to ensure that certain wind and solar components use steel made in the United States to qualify for the domestic content bonus tax credits under the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). The agency is responsible for implementing the guidance for clean electricity production and investment tax credits from the IRA.
In a letter to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI), Steel Manufacturers Association (SMA), American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC), Committee on Pipe and Tube Imports (CPTI) and Specialty Steel Industry of North America (SSINA), expressed concern that the current guidance allows the use of imported steel in place of available domestic steel products in three areas: monopiles for offshore wind facilities, steel components with structural functions in photovoltaic tracking systems (including torque tubes, foundations and rails) and steel fasteners.
“We believe that the agency should take appropriate action to fix…errors in the recently issued guidance,” the associations said in the letter. “It is critical to ensuring that the clear intent of Congress to incentivize the use of domestic steel and iron in clean energy projects is realized.”
The letter urges the agency to ensure the guidance does not “unwittingly benefit China and other countries that have repeatedly exported dumped and subsidized steel into the US market, injuring domestic steel producers and their workers.”
The associations added, “The domestic steel industry has made significant investments to expand its capacity to satisfy demand for these products. There are no constraints on domestic supply that would justify removing them from the scope of the IRA’s domestic iron and steel requirement.”