The White House is announcing today that President Biden will pause new tariffs on solar panel imports for two years and ramp up support for U.S.-made panels. The decision to exempt solar panels from Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam from tariffs will allow the U.S. solar installation and energy industry to move ahead with the energy transition without holding billions in reserve to pay potential retroactive tariffs of 250%, pending the conclusion of an ongoing Commerce Department investigation. Biden will also invoke the Defense Production Act to boost manufacturing of solar panels in the U.S. While tariffs could be imposed on panels from those countries after the 24-month period, the pause gives importers a “safe harbor timeout on the … collection of duties,” a source told Reuters. (Reuters, Wall Street Journal $, Bloomberg $, PV Magazine, Canary Media, Barron’s)