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1/23/2018 1:23:46 AM
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President Trump Slaps Tariffs on Solar Panels in Major Blow to Renewable Energy

[quote]In the biggest blow he’s dealt to the renewable energy industry yet, President Donald Trump decided on Monday to slap tariffs on imported solar panels. The U.S. will impose duties of as much as 30 percent on solar equipment made abroad, a move that threatens to handicap a $28 billion industry that relies on parts made abroad for 80 percent of its supply. Just the mere threat of tariffs has shaken solar developers in recent months, with some hoarding panels and others stalling projects in anticipation of higher costs. The Solar Energy Industries Association has projected tens of thousands of job losses in a sector that employed 260,000. The tariffs are just the latest action Trump has taken that undermine the economics of renewable energy. The administration has already decided to pull the U.S. out of the international 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 import taxes, however, will prove to be the most targeted strike on the industry yet. “Developers may have to walk away from their projects,” Hugh Bromley, a New York-based analyst at Bloomberg New Energy Finance, said in an interview before Trump’s decision. “Some rooftop solar companies may have to pull out” of some states. U.S. panel maker First Solar Inc. jumped 9 percent to $75.20 in after-hours trading in New York. The Tempe, Arizona-based manufacturer stands to gain as costs for competing, foreign panels rise. First Solar didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. The Solar Energy Industries Association also didn’t immediately respond. The first 2.5 gigawatts of imported solar cells will be exempt from the tariffs, Trump said in a statement Monday. The president approved four years of tariffs that start at 30 percent in the first year and gradually drop to 15 percent. The duties are lower than the 35 percent rate the U.S. International Trade Commission recommended in October after finding that imported panels were harming American manufacturers. The idea behind the tariffs is to raise the costs of cheap imports, particularly from Asia, and level the playing field for those who manufacture the parts domestically. For Trump, they may represent a step toward making good on a campaign promise to get tough on the country that produces the most panels — China. Trump’s trade issues took a backseat in 2017 while the White House focused on tax reform, but it’s now coming back into the fore: The solar dispute is among several potential trade decisions that also involve washing machines, consumer electronics and steel.[/quote] At this point, Trump's only platform is "piss off liberals and hurt the environment." What purpose is there in preventing migration to alternative energies?

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  • The only ones hurting alternative energies, are the dumb environmentalists that are scared of nuclear because of "muh chernobyl"

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  • Solar panels aren't that efficient or good for the environment.

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    • Something we talked about in my International Business class: Just because a company makes something “Domestically” does not mean it is 100% American-made. He used the “MyPillow Guy” as an example. The advertisement claims to be “Made in America” but fails to tell you the machines the company used are lifted from Russia (or some other country close to it). Ford definitely doesn’t [i]just[/i] use American “ingredients” in making their vehicles. They know it’s cheaper for them to have other countries sell them the tools they need to make a car in America. They’d be fiscally foolish to find American Iron, glass, rubber, whatever just to claim “100% American made” Point is: What’s the point of the tariff? It could be: A) Backroom deals (always possible in public office) B) An invasive action taken to stifle foreign competition so domestic business can thrive. [spoiler]I personally have an issue with this simply because the free market allows me to choose if I want Quality or Quantity. A cheap solar panel from China may get the job done for me, and allows me to circumvent paying a higher price domestically. If China was the only source, I could understand squashing a monopoly, but it’s not one.[/spoiler] C) Retaliation against the Democratic Party Criticism or opposing ideas are welcome. Have at it.

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    • [quote]But the solar industry countered that the move will raise the cost of installing panels, quash billions of dollars of investment, and kill tens of thousands of jobs, raising questions about whether Trump’s move will backfire by triggering mass layoffs. ... The leading solar trade group predicted that the tariffs could cut forecasted solar installations this year by nearly 20 percent, to 9 gigawatts from 11 gigawatts, and lead to the loss of 23,000 jobs in the United States, the world's fourth-largest solar market after China, Japan and Germany. ... Research firm Wood Mackenzie estimated that over the next five years the tariffs would reduce U.S. solar installation growth by 10 to 15 percent. ... The main beneficiaries include U.S.-based solar manufacturers Suniva and SolarWorld - both controlled by foreign parent companies. [/quote]

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    • Trump put a tariff on an imported product? That heathen!

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    • I scrolled past this post and thought it said solar penis.. guess i should scroll slower...

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    • And the same conservatives who spent that last week saying "Democrats will defend anything their party does" are now defending Donald Trump's high tariffs and claiming renewable energy isn't an alternative. Bravo b.net. you really outdid yourself this week.

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    • Conservatives: Free market! Unregulated capitalism! Government regulation of the economy is socialism! Also Conservatives: Tariffs are awesome! Protect American jobs! Regulated economy! [spoiler]The only thing Trump is trying to protect is the fossil fuel donors that contribute millions to the Republican Party. [/spoiler]

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    • >imported >[b][i]imported[/i][/b] >[b][i]IMPORTED[/i][/b] It's almost like he wants to promote local companies that build solar panels to make more?

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    • Are there no American producers of solar panels? This seems to argue that without imported solar panels there can be no solar energy production. I don't understand why that would be the conclusion.

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      • lol at pretending solar panels are the future of alternative energy

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        I know I am going to catch hell for saying this, but it is a hope and an opinion, not something set in stone nor is every damned thing covered. I hope this is actually just Trump trying to fulfill a campaign promise and help bring manufacturing jobs back to America and not trying to piss off the liberals and ruin the environment. We need to get more of our people out of the poor house and into the middle class brackets, it will help out our country a lot and when we had all those manufacturing jobs here, we had a lot more people in those brackets. [spoiler]Just let what I said lie if you do not agree, I promise, your peckers will not shrink if you do.[/spoiler]

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        • >fried chicken with knife and fork >two scoops >well done steak >with ketchup >fish-gate >literally Hitler >literally fascist >two sips >Muh hair >Muh orange I am shocked, [u]SHOCKED[/u] to hear that be doesn't really care about pissing off liberals, shocked i tell you!

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        • Not sure that this is meant to stifle alternative energy. It could be that he is trying to convince people at home to buy American and support American Industry.

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          • misleading title.. . imported solar panels. Aren't some made in the US? if not why?

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            • So he wants to place a tariff on cheaply made foreign panels and help create new jobs in the country he is president over. What a -blam!-ing bastard!!!

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              • First off nice clickbait Logan Paul. Secondly, fusion power is probably 15 years out so who cares.

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                • Ha ha ha nothing that ————— does surprises me ,the fasting growing industry out there is renewable energy and he goes and throws his dummy at it.

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                • A protective import tariff on solar panels isn't inherently a bad thing. Still, I'm skeptical that growing American solar production is Trump's real goal here. Consumer and industrial-level solar installation rates will fall, keeping coal and oil in the black that much longer. China will undeniably suffer, as the article mentioned. Given Trump's general aversion to clean energy, these seem like the more likely motivations.

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                • Solar panels are not the future.

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                • Yaaawwn

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                • what a c,u,n,t

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                • I'm okay with this compared to other things he has tried to do. Hopefully they will provide some type of tax benefit for converting to help make up for the extra price.

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                • Conceivably, it's a protectionist policy for the domestic renewable energy industry. Which is not to say that I think it's a good or rational policy.

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                  • Here's a thought: state sponsored research. Inb4 conservatards

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                    • [quote]"President Trump Slaps Tariffs on IMPORTED Solar Panels in Major Blow to Renewable Energy"[/quote]I converted your headline from #fakenews to #realnews Care to discuss how locally manufactured solar panels DON'T have this tariff? Nope, because agenda.

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