Thursday, March 22, 2018

Trump’s Tariff on Solar Panels Slows Clean Energy Projects


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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