U.S. Must Cut Dependence on Chinese Solar Products, Ossoff Says

(Bloomberg) -- The U.S. must swiftly combat climate change while ridding the solar supply chain of forced labor, according to Georgia Senator Jon Ossoff. His solution: boosting domestic manufacturing.

“We have to act on climate now. We have to act against slave labor now,” said Ossoff, a Democrat, in an interview Thursday. “We’re hugely reliant upon Chinese supply chains tainted by Uyghur forced labor to produce this solar-energy production capacity.”

 WATCH: Sen. Jon Ossoff says the U.S. should stop relying on solar energy products from China that he says are tainted by forced labor.(Source: Bloomberg)

Ossoff’s appearance on Bloomberg Television’s “Balance of Power With David Westin” comes as Democrats’ sweeping climate plan in a proposed $3.5 trillion package faces internal and external resistance. The senator said he’s pushing to include his proposal to boost domestic solar manufacturing through tax credits in that package.

Almost half of the world’s supply of solar-grade polysilicon comes from Xinjiang, the western China region facing increasing scrutiny for alleged human-rights abuses against Muslim Uyghurs.

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