Making American Workers Losers Again

President Trump Slaps Tariffs on Solar Panels in Major Blow to Renewable Energy

Brian Eckhouse, Ari Natter, and Christopher Martin, January 22, 2018 (Time Magazine)

“…In the biggest blow he’s dealt to the renewable energy industry yet, [the president imposed] duties of as much as 30 percent on solar equipment made abroad…[This] threatens to handicap a $28 billion industry that relies on parts made abroad for 80 percent of its supply…The Solar Energy Industries Association has projected tens of thousands of job losses in a sector that employed 260,000…The tariffs are just the latest action Trump has taken that undermine the economics of renewable energy…The import taxes, however, will prove to be the most targeted strike on the industry yet…The first 2.5 gigawatts of imported solar cells will be exempt from the tariffs…[and the four years of tariffs that start at 30 percent in the first year will] gradually drop to 15 percent…[T]hey may represent a step toward making good on a campaign promise to get tough on the country that produces the most panels — China…[The solar industry may] attempt a long-shot appeal to Congress…” click here for more

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