INDUSTRY EMPLOYS 260,000 IN U.S.

“At a time when demand for our product is booming, there is exactly one currently active producer of both solar cells and modules left in the United States — Solarworld,” Stein testified in August. “We are one supplier with a capacity of 2 to 3 percent of U.S. demand, and even we are operating well below capacity. We have had to lay off hundreds of employees since mid last year, including 360 workers just last month.”

Global overcapacity makes the U.S. market the “first and last resort,” according to Stein. Coupled with increased U.S. imports, these two factors caused American solar prices to buckle.

“Countries that had shipped almost no products to the United States in the past became major suppliers virtually overnight,” Stein said in his prepared testimony. “As a result, the domestic industry, despite modest increases in production, did not benefit from growing U.S. demand and saw its market share fall sharply.

The solar industry employed 260,000 people last year, with solar representing one out of every 50 new jobs, Hopper said.

“We are concerned that any tariff would be harmful to the growth of the industry,” said Hopper, whose association represents more than 1,000 solar companies. “We think it is incumbent upon us to prove why it’s a better solution to allow this industry to continue to grow.”

The commission’s recommendation will go to Trump on Nov. 13. He would then have two months, until early 2018, to make a decision. yvonne.gonzalez@gmgvegas. com / 702-990-2464 / @ymgonzal