Specifically, the Trump Administration has announced that the tariffs will apply to solar panels and washing machines manufactured outside of the US.
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Asian nations have been bracing for trade sanctions ever since President Donald Trump took office a year ago. The administration has already made a decision to pull the USA out of the global Paris climate agreement, rolled back Obama-era regulations on power plant-emissions and passed sweeping tax reforms that constrained financing for solar and wind. The first 2.5 gigawatts of imported solar cells will be exempt each year. “And that’s what happened today, if you look at solar and if you look at the washing machine companies, that’s really what happened today”.
The International Trade Commission’s recommendations to the president said there would likely be a “modest increase” in prices for washing machines as a result of the tariffs and that fewer machines would be imported, which companies said could result in fewer choices for consumers.
Donald Trump has long championed trade barriers as a way to protect US manufacturers from foreign competitors. Before today’s push, the company had seen its stock price climb 161% over the a year ago.
Samsung added that it has hired more than 600 American workers at its new factory in SC, which started producing washing machines this month. “It’s making it much more expensive for them”, said Diane Schwenke with the Grand Junction Chamber of Commerce.
Samsung and LG, both companies based in South Korea, said the decision could raise the prices of their washing machines in the US or make choices more limited. “So many of those projects as a result of these tariffs will not come into fruition”, said Villaire.
“On the whole, the US business community is still very concerned about China’s failure to establish a level playing field with respect to foreign business, including USA businesses”, Mr. Ross said. “We’re going to benefit our consumers, and we’re going to create a lot of jobs”. Sanford says over 7,000 South Carolinians who work in the solar industry could lose their jobs because of the tariffs.
For now, Trump’s maneuvering on trade is expected to do little to quell the dominance of East Asia’s solar industry, which operates on a scale that makes it hard for USA companies to compete on price. On one side are a few solar manufacturers like Suniva and SolarWorld that say low-priced imports have made it impossible to be profitable.
They exported one billion US dollars worth of washing machines to the U.S.in 2016, accounting for almost a third of the USA washing machine market.
President Donald Trump’s tariffs on solar-panel imports to the USA are a swipe at an industry that drew in $161 billion of investment globally previous year and is dominated by companies in China. Suniva was joined by SolarWorld Americas, the US subsidiary of a German company.
In Vermont, some solar companies reacted to the new tariff with disappointment.
President Trump has imposed a 30% import tariff on solar panels coming from overseas manufacturers to the US.
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However, as the solar industry competes on thin margins, installers warn the tariffs could deplete demand and see investments cancelled.
