11

1 comments

[–] ScorpioGlitch 4 points (+5|-1) Edited
Edit: Now you know why China was able to do it so cheaply: https://wattsupwiththat.com/2018/06/china-slashes-solar-subsidies-green-stocks-tumble/

People hoping to save a few bucks was bolstering China's subsidies of solar development. That money *should* be going to the US.

If he really wants to save the government money on this, he'll cool down the 30% return incentive plan. In the meantime, these companies are just going to have to suck it up. You can not compete in a global market place with local resources and staff. You absolutely can't do it. For every dollar you spend trying to stay competitive, someone else is removing a safety regulation or environmental law in order to drop their manufacturing price so that they can export these goods so you'll buy them. It's the same principle as we see in the H1B visa program.

The tariff’s bifurcated impact on the solar industry underscores how protectionist trade measures almost invariably hurt one or more domestic industries for every one they shield from foreign competition.

Holy crap, talk about spin. Let's turn that around: "Every industry helped by open and free trade is at the expense of another industry hurt or destroyed by it."

Trump announced the tariff in January over protests from most of the solar industry that the move would chill one of America’s fastest-growing sectors.

If you'd have been buying American produced products in the first place, you would still be on track to complete your project. This is what happens when you send your money to another country to shave a percent or two on your bid.

Solar was really on the cusp of being able to completely take off,” said Zoe Hanes, chief executive of Charlotte, North Carolina solar developer Pine Gate Renewables.

It already is and it won't sink. A lot of people are happy to pay more for everything if they know that it's produced in the US and helps US businesses.

Officials at Suniva - a Chinese-owned, U.S.-based solar panel manufacturer whose bankruptcy prompted the Trump administration to consider a tariff

And now we know why Trump put the tariff in place: why should a growing US industry be at the mercy of a company owned by another country? The US could only do so much for a foreign owned company whereas there are more things we can do for a US based company (whether that be because of laws or company/country culture in accepting help).