“When solar’s costs go up, all that success is jeopardized”.
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The Trump administration issued a decision on a high-profile trade case, imposing 30% tariffs on imported crystalline silicon photovoltaic modules and cells.
China accused Trump of jeopardizing the multilateral trading system by taking action on complaints under USA law instead of through the World Trade Organization. On top of that, the Arizona-based company First Solar makes a type of panel that’s not covered by the tariff. Photovoltaic cells even grew cheap enough to be used in large-scale power plants, an idea once considered wildly unrealistic.
Again, the ITC determined that these factors and others constituted a substantial cause of serious injury to the domestic solar industry.
“While we believe the decision will be significantly harmful to our industry and the economy, we appreciate that the president and the administration listened to our arguments”, Hopper said.
Last Friday, the Geneva-based body sided with Beijing in setting a firm date this summer for Washington to implement a ruling faulting the US’ anti-dumping measures against Chinese products. Two companies with USA manufacturing operations, Suniva of Georgia and Solarworld of Germany, which has a large factory in Hillsboro, Oregon, sought the tariffs.
Most of the USA solar industry, however, saw the trade case as a threat. Tariffs that make solar panels more expensive, and thus discourage their use, will cause 23,000 installers, engineers and project managers to lose their jobs this year as billions of dollars in planned investment evaporates, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association.
“The President’s decision to impose 30 percent tariffs on imported solar cells and modules will have the unfortunate effect of raising costs for downstream solar customers, including the growing number of leading companies that are sourcing their electricity from renewable resources”, says Malcolm Woolf, senior vice president of policy at Advanced Energy Economy (AEE), a national business association, speaking on behalf of the Advanced Energy Buyers Group, a coalition of large energy users convened by AEE. Both blamed Chinese imports for accelerating their problems. In 2012, duties on Chinese manufacturers were imposed after it was concluded that the Asian country was flooding the US market with cheap cells and panels.
Congress has no authority to change or veto Trump’s decision. This is for the first year only. The factory also is making Tesla’s integrated solar roof, first unveiled in 2016.
The administration’s decision followed a trade case brought by two US solar manufacturers. While they might be pleased to have the Trump administration on their side, American-owned businesses which also play a role in solar deployment have already been voicing their displeasure. “Everyone will pay more, with fewer choices”. The tariff allows 2.5 gigawatts of unassembled solar cells to be imported tariff-free in each year. California’s policies encouraging renewable power have been widely credited with nurturing the industry.
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“This reckless decision will threaten tens of thousands of American jobs and hurt our climate”, said Howard Crystal, a senior attorney with the Center for Biological Diversity.
