Solar Tariff Imposed by New Bill and its Effects

SANTA FE, NM - Recently on January 21st, a tariff was imposed on all imported solar panels that will effectively kill off the solar industry in the U.S. by raising costs. The tariff will charge 30 percent on solar panels shipped to America from other countries. This tariff is meant to support American made products by evening out the playing field according to the presidency, but it does pretty much the opposite. In America there is no infrastructure to make solar panels, only one or two companies produce them here on a small scale. Mostly American companies only produce solar cells, a smaller building block of the larger solar panels, so companies have most of their panels imported from countries like China who mass produce solar panels. This tariff will have many effects on the renewable resource business in the U.S., all of them negative. It will eliminate about 23 thousand jobs over time, because the tariff will make it harder to pay for employees’ salaries. Due to the raised prices and loss of jobs, it is estimated that over 1.2 million fewer households in America will have access to solar energy. Solar energy, a renewable resource, produces little to no pollution, whereas conventional energy like coal lets off billions of tons of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases when burned, which in turn contributes to global warming and climate change. Other than the obvious environmental problems that will continue to get worse because of this bill, local economies will also be hit hard. Economies like New Mexico that have huge solar industries and that have started moving away from conventional coal will be thrown into reverse gear, and have to revive old industries. New Mexico businesses call the bill a “phoney fix to a problem that doesn’t exist.” This “fix” will most likely put many solar companies in America out of business, instead of the intended reason of raising their profits. This may help to start solar infrastructure in America, but it is more likely that it will kill off most of the solar business and bring jobs back to fossil fuel industries.