WH Spox Jean-Pierre Shuts Down Fox Reporter’s Suggestion That Biden Clean Energy Move is ‘Gift To Chinese Solar Manufacturers’

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre shut down Fox News White House correspondent Jacqui Heinrich‘s suggestion that President Joe Biden‘s new clean energy push is “a gift to Chinese solar manufacturers” who “operate with forced labor and are subsidized by the Chinese Communist Party.”

This week, President Biden invoked emergency powers to institute a raft of measures aimed at bolstering clean energy using the Defense Production Act.

At Monday’s press briefing, Jean-Pierre fielded several questions on the moves, including one from Heinrich that carried a very damaging suggestion.

“On the solar panels, how is this not a gift to Chinese solar manufacturers who — many of whom operate with forced labor and are subsidized by the Chinese Communist Party?” Heinrich asked.

Jean-Pierre shut that suggestion down, but not before cushioning the blow with a lengthy preamble:

So, you know, today’s announcement is about one country and one country alone, and it’s about the United States.

It is about the reliability of our power — of our power grid. It is about reducing costs for American families, and it’s about enabling domestic solar manufacturers to move forward with their projects.

The actions that we’re — we are currently doing is being applauded by members of Congress, by labor, by climate groups, by U.S. CEOs, and domestic solar manufacturers as well.

The — the actions do not apply to any materials imported from China. Import duties will remain in place on solar cells and panels from China or Taiwan. So it has nothing to do with either; it’s about making sure that we’re delivering for the American public.

The text of the president’s declaration does, in fact, contain a list of countries for whom certain import duties will be lifted. In plainer English, a White House fact sheet explains “Temporarily facilitating U.S. solar deployers’ ability to source solar modules and cells from Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam by providing that those components can be imported free of certain duties for 24 months in order to ensure the U.S. has access to a sufficient supply of solar modules to meet electricity generation needs while domestic manufacturing scales up.”

While the countries listed are in Asia, none of them are China.

Watch above via The White House and AP Video.