Trump’s solar tariffs cause a scramble in the industry
Sunpower is the nation’s No. 2 commercial solar-power company, employing thousands of workers directly and indirectly. But it makes most of its solar panels abroad, and with the tariffs recently imposed by President Donald Trump costing it as much as $2 million a week, Sunpower is fighting for an exemption.
One of its rivals, Solarworld Americas, produces panels domestically. Buffeted by foreign competition, it was behind the original push for the tariffs.
Now the two American companies are merging.
It is all part of the disruption, distortion and uncertainty from an escalating trade offensive aimed primarily at China. In barely three months, the tariffs — the first shot fired by Trump in that campaign — are fundamentally reshaping the solar industry and its prospects.
A Chinese player announced plans to open a factory in Florida as early as this fall. With its Solarworld acquisition, Sunpower moved to prevent further loss to its business by locating a bigger share of its production in the United States. Both companies are being hit with tariffs on high-efficiency panels they produce in Malaysia.
Those efforts only blunt the negative effects of the industry fallout. While producing more panels in the United States will create a few hundred jobs, the tariffs could cost tens of thousands, largely on the installation side of the business. Dozens of solar companies are now petitioning to be exempted from the tariffs, and a bipartisan group in Congress has introduced a bill to overturn them altogether.
“I think that any action that brings new investment to the United States is welcome,” said Abigail Ross Hopper, president of the Solar Energy Industries Association. “But the tariffs have slowed down the growth of our industry. The growth has been muted, and that means jobs are not being created.” Her group said the tariffs could cost as many as 23,000 American jobs this year.
In addition, the 30 percent tariffs are going to make it more expensive for cities across the country to pursue their goal of promoting solar power as a way to curb carbon pollution.
The solar industry expects to continue adding installations, but growth is estimated to be about 11 percent lower than pro-