In this op-ed, EFTC Executive Director Bret Manley argues that India should be added to the U.S. ‘foreign entities of concern’ list to prevent American clean-energy subsidies from benefiting Indian solar companies accused of fraud, tariff evasion, and ties to Chinese manufacturers. Read more below!
Congress Should Impose Tariffs on India’s Solar Exports | RealClear Policy
The United States should not be subsidizing its own decline. Congress has a chance—indeed, a duty—to correct one of the great follies of modern trade and energy policy. It must stop sending American taxpayer dollars to enrich foreign conglomerates that flout our laws, undercut our workers, and bankroll our adversaries.
Under President Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act, signed on July 4, 2025, lawmakers wisely fortified the Inflation Reduction Act to block clean-energy subsidies from flowing to “foreign entities of concern.” It’s time to take the next logical step and add India to that list.
This week, it was reported that Saatvik Green Energy, one of India’s largest solar manufacturers, is abandoning the U.S. market altogether, calling it no longer “worth the risk” amid tariff scrutiny. That should be cause for celebration, not alarm. American policymakers should resist the predictable chorus—amplified by a handful of U.S. lawmakers—calling on the White House to roll back tariffs on Indian imports. Far from being obstacles to prosperity, the tariffs are a defense against exploitation.
India’s record as a trading partner is one of opportunism dressed as partnership. For years, New Delhi has treated the global trading system as a tool for extracting unilateral advantage rather than as a framework for mutual benefit. It has slapped punitive duties on U.S. agriculture and manufacturing, restricted pharmaceutical exports when convenient, and repeatedly thumbed its nose at the World Trade Organization. And all the while, it has filled its coffers with discounted Russian oil, directly financing Vladimir Putin’s war machine.
With respect to solar, India’s conduct has been nothing short of predatory. Under the Biden administration’s porous enforcement of the IRA, Indian firms flooded the U.S. market with cheap, often Chinese-linked panels, displacing American manufacturers and distorting a sector critical to our national security. These companies are not building a “green future.” Rather, they are taking advantage of Washington’s naïveté to expand their own state-backed empires.
Waaree Energies, India’s top solar exporter, is now under investigation by U.S. Customs and Border Protection for allegedly dodging anti-dumping and countervailing duties by disguising Chinese-made components as “Made in India.” Since October 2024, $43 million in Indian solar shipments have been detained over suspected forced-labor violations and tariff evasion. This is industrial fraud. And Waaree thumbs its nose at America. It recently stated that the investigation will have “no impact” on its investment plans to expand its solar module manufacturing plant in Houston.
It doesn’t stop there. Gautam Adani, chairman of Adani Green Energy, was indicted in U.S. federal court for orchestrating a $250 million bribery scheme to secure solar contracts in India, all while courting billions in American investment. This is the moral character of the industry Washington is currently subsidizing.
Contrast this with the administration’s sensible decision to shelve tariffs on Indian generic drugs. That move served the public interest by keeping essential medicines affordable for American patients. Solar energy, by contrast, is not a humanitarian good. It’s a strategic asset. To hand it over to corrupt foreign conglomerates is to surrender the economic foundations of our sovereignty.
Adding India to the FEOC list is therefore is an act of prudence. It will ensure that the billions of dollars Congress appropriated to secure America’s energy independence do not wind up in the pockets of foreign oligarchs or the treasuries of nations that play both sides of global conflict.
America’s energy future must not be built on foreign dependency. For too long, bipartisan complacency has mistaken global supply chains for global friendship. President Trump’s trade agenda, derided by elites as “protectionist,” has proven prescient. Economic strength is national strength. Strategic self-reliance is moral duty.
Congress must act swiftly to ensure that our laws, our subsidies, and our energy future serve one nation alone: the United States of America.
Bret Manley is the executive director of the Energy Fair Trade Coalition. He is a former Naval Intelligence Officer and previously worked on Capitol Hill as chief of staff to a senior member of the Congressional Climate Solutions Caucus.