Free-Trade Not In The Cards For Solar Due To Trump

Trump recently thrust yet another major blow to the solar power industry here in the United States. As the Senate voted on a proposal to re-open the government on Thursday, the Trump administration stated it would require tariffs of 30 percent on imported solar panel equipment, a notion that will mostly make it very costly for Americans to buy the products from Chinese companies. That’s dangerous to most renewable energy advocates because America’s capacity to get low-priced solar panels from China is partially why America has seen remarkable improvements and scaling up of solar-powered electricity production over the last decade. At least 40 percent of solar panels utilized in America are Chinese-made, imported solar panel systems, and components.

Trump Blocks Solar Panels

Among other mystifying administrative decisions, President Trump has approved proposals to impose safeguard tariffs on imported large domestic washing machines and introduced solar cells and solar panel systems.

Trump’s judgment originated from a complaint filed by SolarWorld and Suniva, two foreign-owned solar panel manufacturers that maintain operation in the U.S. In a petition filed with the U.S. International Trade Commission in June, the businesses claimed that China’s dominance in the American solar equipment market constituted unlawful competition. The ITC agreed, and in October recommended Trump command tariffs of 10 to 35 percent on Chinese solar goods.

ITC’s judgment gave Trump reason to indulge in two of his preferred activities: pacifying American manufacturers and knocking China. But the greatest American manufacturers of solar equipment likely aren’t pleased about the choice.

Problems Making Up Losses

“The tariffs requested by Suniva would more than double the price of solar panels in the U.S., undercutting the cost-competitiveness of solar and reversing its high growth trajectory,” a collection of 27 manufacturers penned in a declaration to the International Trade Commission in August. “We would be forced to cut our operations, seriously endangering manufacturing jobs at our factories.” The Solar Energy Industries Association, the solar industry trade association, determines that 88,000 jobs in solar could cease to exist.  This dismantling moment is more jobs lost than the entire U.S. coal industry. (The solar industry presently employs approximately 260,000 people; the coal industry employs approximately 80,000 people.)

Many conservative Republicans also objected to tariffs for numerous reasons; some argued that Trump shouldn’t choke a growing industry, while others, like Fox News host Sean Hannity, said tariffs would establish a “bailout” of SolarCity and Suniva. In the hours directly following Trump’s decision, however, it’s mostly renewable energy groups and environmentalists who are yelling into the void of uninterested pundits.

We here are HahaSmart is striving to continue to find ways to save you money while getting into solar.  There are still record low prices to be seen on solar panels, and we have the connections to make that happen for you. Want to save and be guided by experts? Go to HahaSmart.com and try our price checker tool. It tells you how much solar power you need and how much you can save on your energy bills each month.