Trump imposes tariffs on imported solar panels, washing machines

Measure part of campaign vow, expected to handicap renewable energy sector

WASHINGTON U.S. President Donald Trump slapped tariffs on imported solar panels and washing machines, his first major trade move after repeated threats to crack down on what he sees as unfair foreign competition.

The U.S. will impose new duties of as much as 30 per cent on foreign-made solar equipment, the U.S. Trade Representative’s office said Monday. The president also approved tariffs starting as high as 50 per cent on imported washing machines, according to USTR.

The move on foreign solar panels threatens to handicap a US$28billion industry that relies on parts made abroad for 80 per cent 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 Obamaera regulations on power plantemissions 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.

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 back seat in 2017 while the White House focused on tax reform, but it’s now coming back into the fore.