By
Kristie Murru
Following
President Trump’s tariff on solar cells and panels made overseas, companies in
the United States are experiencing major strains, NBC News reports. Instated in January, it places a 30 percent
tax on imports, which has hurt businesses. In theory the tariff would work
toward increasing business for companies in the United States that manufacture
photovoltaic cells and panels because it is meant to target production
overseas. The panel that are made outside the U.S. are then shipped to the U.S.
and sold at cheaper rates.
The
industry has estimated that 23,000 jobs will be lost due to this tax, while
American job prospects will only
increase minimally. In addition to the
solar panels that have been taxed, President Trump has placed a 25 percent charge
on steel and a 10 percent tariff on aluminum imports. With the addition of these two taxes, the
conversation has again started regarding the solar panel tax, as it
should. If there continues to be less
outrage surrounding this issue, then there will never be enough push back. The voices of these companies in addition to
the people of the United States should be heard. Instead of taxing these imports, we should be
investing in these projects. This is a
setback that, is detrimental to the solar industry, when this should be a
source of clean energy that is assisted by the government.
Solar
companies are struggling because they have not been able to grow to the
capacity they otherwise would have with no restrictions. The nonprofit organization Grid Alternatives
has suffered due to this tariff causing them to shut down their New York, New
Jersey, and Connecticut locations. This
organization works toward bringing solar power to low income communities and
also training individuals to work in solar panel jobs. If clean energy is a goal to limit the
effects of climate change then there will be a need for individuals that have
the training to work with solar energy.
President
Trump’s tariff was meant to target overseas importation of the panels into the
United States. Realistically, his tariff
should benefit any solar panel manufacturing companies in the States. So far, the one company that is benefiting
from the tariff happens to be an American subsidiary of a Chinese manufacturing
company. Other organizations believe
that, overall, this tariff is limiting the potential for growth of solar energy
in the United States.
While I agree that
as a country we should purchase solar panels from American based companies in
order to sustain the companies here, I do not believe such a tariff should have
been placed in this critical time. The
only thing it seems to be accomplishing is slowing down projects that were
benefiting local communities and providing a new job market for the
future. Ultimately, we must move from
using fossil fuels and coal, and so those jobs will be gone. The clean energy switch is going to happen,
however long it may take, and so trained individuals will be in demand for when
that begins to pick up.
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