The recently announced 30% solar tariff could be offset and overwhelmed by new plans announced this week by the Rocky Mountain Institute and 35 solar energy industry leaders, which have committed to developing an ultra-low-cost solar product which could significantly reduce costs to the point that fully installed costs would only reach $0.50 per watt.
After 8 months of uncertainty and vitriol, US President Donald Trump has decided this week to impose a 30% tariff on imported solar cells and modules in response to a Section 201 trade case filed by Suniva and SolarWorld back in April of 2017, a move which will likely cost 23,000 American jobs this year.
Abigail Ross Hopper, the Solar Energy Industries Association President and CEO, made a personal plea on Wednesday to US President Donald Trump to reject imposing high tariffs on solar imports and risking tens of thousands of US-based jobs.
The recent Section 201 solar trade case that has passed through the US International Trade Commission has undone some of the progress made by President Obama’s SunShot Initiative which sought to lower solar costs to make them cost-competitive with other forms of energy.
Suniva and SolarWorld have filed a complaint with the US International Trade Commission claiming cheap solar cells and solar panels from China made it impossible for them to compete and drove them into bankruptcy. The claim is not about subsidies given to those companies by the Chinese government, only that the imported products are cheap and hurt Suniva’s and SolarWorld’s business. (Note that Suniva itself is a subsidiary of a Chinese solar company that opposed the complaint.)
The US International Trade Commission published on Tuesday recommendations for import tariffs on solar PV cells and modules as part of the Section 201 trade case which has been in motion much of this year, and though any tariffs are harmful, the proposals were not as bad as many within the solar industry were fearing.
Major US businesses and members of the Ceres BICEP Network have this week added their voices to the many already hoping the US International Trade Commission will reconsider imposing a solar tariff following the ruling in the Suniva and SolarWorld Section 201 solar trade case.
GTM Research has published a new report this week investigating the potential impact of introducing various levels of tariffs on the solar industry as a result of the Section 201 trade case currently in front of the US International Trade Commission.
The International Trade Commission has handed Trump just the tool he needs to crush the US solar power industry. Will he use it?
Suniva and SolarWorld Americas last week submitted updated requests to the US International Trade Commission that suggest lowering their originally-requested tax remedies on imported solar equipment, but SolarWorld further petitioned the ITC to impose a limit on solar module imports into the United States.
