Split U.S. solar industry to debate tariffs at hearing
Source: Reuters
OCTOBER 3, 2017 / 5:16 AM / UPDATED 6 HOURS AGO
Split U.S. solar industry to debate tariffs at hearing
Nichola Groom
(Reuters) - A fractured U.S. solar industry will present differing proposals on Tuesday to a government commission considering measures to prop up domestic solar panel makers, who say cheap imports have left them on the verge of collapse.
The closely-watched trade case before the U.S. International Trade Commission has pitted the nation’s solar installers and developers against two struggling domestic panel makers. Installers rely on cheap panels to build projects that are cost competitive with natural gas and coal plants.
After ruling unanimously last month that domestic producers have been harmed by imports, the commission now must decide what trade remedies to recommend to President Donald Trump, who will make a final decision later this year. The ITC must deliver its report to the president by Nov. 13.
Suniva and SolarWorld, which are both foreign-owned but manufacture panels in the United States, want import tariffs and other trade remedies, saying they are critical to revitalizing their operations and competing against overseas producers, mainly from China.
Read more: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trade-solar/split-u-s-solar-industry-to-debate-tariffs-at-hearing-idUSKCN1C80C5
Retweeted by David Fahrenthold: https://twitter.com/Fahrenthold
"That decision could be acutely felt in Texas, where the solar sector has grown significantly in recent years, due in part to an influx of cheap products from abroad." https://www.texastribune.org/2017/10/03/texas-solar-industry-watches-trade-case-moves-next-phase/ … @snajmabadi digs into wonky, but important #txenergy issue.
Link to tweet
Texas solar industry watches as trade case moves forward
https://www.texastribune.org/2017/10/03/texas-solar-industry-watches-trade-case-moves-next-phase/
BY SHANNON NAJMABADI OCT. 3, 2017 10 HOURS AGO
A recent solar energy boom in Texas and other states could be hobbled, critics warn, if a federal agency agrees to levy taxes or other protective measures on solar products made abroad. ... The U.S. International Trade Commission is scheduled to hold a hearing Tuesday to consider imposing a tariff or price floor on imports of solar panels and cells to help domestic manufacturers compete. But opponents hope to convince the commissioners that protectionist policies would harm the bulk of the industry that works with solar panels and cells but doesn't manufacture them.
"Looking at the full industry, it's thousands and thousands of jobs across a range of functions: large-scale project development, marketing, installation, construction, financing, operations and maintenance," said Charlie Hemmeline, executive director of the Texas Solar Power Association, a state-based industry group. "To artificially raise prices hurts those job categories.” ... The commission voted 4-0 in September that the amount of solar cells and panels being imported into the country was causing “serious injury” to domestic manufacturers.
Next month, the commission is expected to send recommendations on how to address the issue to President Donald Trump, who has broad latitude to determine what course of action to take. He is expected to make a decision in December or January.
That decision could be acutely felt in Texas, where the solar sector has grown significantly in recent years, due in part to an influx of cheap products from abroad. The Texas solar industry added 2,366 workers in 2016, a 34 percent increase on the previous year, according to The Solar Foundation, a solar advocacy group. About a third of the state's solar jobs are in manufacturing, Foundation data shows.
