SOLAR ENERGY TARIFF - 2018

One of the fastest growing areas of employment has been in the solar energy industry.  President Trump has now put a large tariff on imported solar panels that may crimp the solar industry.

In its decision on Monday, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said China used a series of "state incentives, subsidies, and tariffs to dominate the global supply chain" and carve out a leading role in solar cell and module manufacturing.*

The Obama administration twice placed tariffs on solar imports from China, but Chinese companies skirted the penalties by moving production to neighboring countries. The Trump administration's tariffs close that loophole by applying tariffs to all solar cell and module imports.*

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The tariffs the Trump administration adopted — 30 percent in the first year that the penalty is applied — adds 10-15 cents to imported cells, according to MJ Shiao, head of Americas Research at GTM Research, a green tech analysis firm.*

A 10-cents-per-watt tariff could reduce construction of large, utility-scale solar farms by 9 percent, GTM estimates.*

The tariff drops by 5 percentage points each year, ending at 15 percent. The tariffs kick in after 2.5 gigawatts of solar cells have been imported*

* https://www.cnbc.com/2018/01/23/trumps-solar-tariffs-could-slow-down-rapid-renewable-job-growth.html