Tim Brightbill Discusses Business and Political Fallout from Bankruptcy of U.S. Solar Manufacturer

Tim Brightbill, a partner in the International Trade Practice, was interviewed by E&E Reporter following yesterday’s announcement that another solar manufacturer supported by the federal loan guarantee program is moving toward bankruptcy. Abound Solar—a Colorado-based photovoltaic module manufacturer—announced it is shuttering its operations due in large part to “aggressive pricing actions” from Chinese solar panel companies.

Mr. Brightbill, counsel for a consortium of solar manufacturers that filed a countervailing duty and antidumping complaint against China, noted that “it’s extremely unfortunate for any U.S. solar manufacturer to go under, particularly while the case is pending. Unfortunately, this just shows that Chinese dumping and subsidies have damaged not only the crystalline silicon market but also the U.S. thin-film market and the entire solar manufacturing chain in the United States.”

Mr. Brightbill added, “this is exactly why we need to fight China’s unfair trade actions wherever they occur. It’s vitally important that we have solar manufacturing here in the United States, not only so we have good jobs, but also so we have innovation and we have the next generation of solar in this country.”