This is bonkers, even for Trump.
Cell Dweller
The Trump administration is slapping giant tariffs on Southeast Asian-made solar panels — and the figures are so high, you may straight up gasp.
As CNN and other outlets report, the United States is seeking tariffs of up to 3,521 percent — yes, you read that right — on solar cells and panels from Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia, and Vietnam, all of which supply Chinese companies that have been accused of unfair competition.
Nominally issued to help American companies compete against Chinese companies that flood American markets with cheap solar panels, the levies probably better serve to illustrate how far this president is willing to go in his trade war — even at the expense of cheap renewable power.
Solar Pain
Just under a year ago, several solar panel companies petitioned then-president Joe Biden to instate tariffs on Chinese solar cell companies that had allegedly “dumped” their unfairly cheap products onto US markets and, in doing so, harmed American companies.
Led by Hanwha Qcells, a South Korean company with facilities in the state of Georgia, and the Arizona-based First Solar Inc, the companies claim their Chinese counterparts are undercutting competition and harming their bottom lines when flooding American markets with uber-cheap products from Southeast Asia, some of which were priced below the cost of production.
While it’s not exactly clear why the Biden administration didn’t take swifter action on those allegations, this seeming overcorrect under Donald Trump serves as a stark reminder of the state of play in his foolish trade war with China — and how starkly against clean energy this president remains.
As the Houston Chronicle reports, renewable energy developers in the blood-red state of Texas have been plagued by uncertainty as their production timelines have been repeatedly stymied by the “wait-and-see” nature of Trump’s tariffs.
“If this self-inflicted and unnecessary market uncertainty continues, we’ll almost certainly see more projects paused, more construction halted, and more job opportunities disappear,” explained Michael Timberlake, the communications director for the clean energy group E2, in a statement.
More on trade war: China Creates Mocking AI Video of Average Americans Working in Garment Factory
