Trump's Solar Tariff Is Bad, But Not a Huge Deal

President Donald Trump has imposed 30 percent tariffs on solar panels made outside the U.S. It’s hard to tell why he’s doing this. It could be a protectionist move, or it could be designed to hurt renewable energy and protect the dying coal industry. But whatever the reason, the consequences probably won’t be severe. The solar revolution is happening so fast that the tariff will make little difference.

On one hand, the solar tariffs could be the beginning of Trump’s long-awaited attempt to make American manufacturing competitive again. China, which Trump has named as the U.S.’s main trade rival, has long subsidized its solar-panel manufacturing industry. U.S. manufacturer Solyndra, famous for going bust after being receiving large government loans, claimed to have been undercut by the flood of cheap panels from China. In 2012 and 2014, the U.S. government under President Barack Obama hit the Chinese solar industry with tariffs even higher than the one just announced by Trump. The European Union recently followed suit.