Manchin climate deal would boost US cleantech makers

 The landmark US Senate climate deal announced late Wednesday would boost cleantech manufacturing, a sector that’s struggled to compete with China.

If ultimately approved by Congress, the deal would introduce a tax credit over several years for solar-panel making, batteries, wind-power components and other domestically made goods. Companies poised to benefit include First Solar Inc., the biggest US panel maker, as well as TPI Composites Inc., a maker of wind-turbine blades.

Disruptive trade fights and supply-chain bottlenecks have underscored the need to diversify materials sources for solar and batteries. The US, after all, is dependent on international markets -- and especially Chinese companies -- for much of their cleantech goods. But manufacturers say they required support to build or expand within the US. That could change with the deal struck Wednesday by Democratic Senators Joe Manchin and Chuck Schumer.

“We are heavily reliant upon imported solar products and the supply chain that China’s taken control over,” said Jon Ossoff, a Democratic senator from Georgia, in an interview Thursday on Bloomberg TV. “Solar technology is now a matter of our strategic national interest. We need to be producing these products in the United States.” Ossoff has pushed for domestic manufacturing support.

Last month, First Solar said it opted against building a new US factory. The reason: uncertainty over trade policy and tax incentives.