The Department of Commerce (DOC) within the USA announced that a new solar tariff ruling will raise the prices of imports, but will also impact U.S solar cells manufacturer. Such a decision will have a direct and negative impact on manufacturers such as Suniva, which is company that produces solar cells within the U.S.A with assembly plants in China.
Another company that will be directly affected is Hemlock Semiconductor, who announced during December 2014 that it is closing down their Clarksville, Tennessee, plant of solar silicon manufacturing due to the international trade disputes the solar tariff has instigated.
Solar tariff ruling directly impacting American companies
This decision comes at a time when both the governments of America and China are negotiating in order to create a stable trade environment concerning solar products.
In response to this news, Jigar Shah, President of the Coalition for Affordable Solar Energy (CASE), released the following statement:
“Imposing unilateral tariffs on all solar modules assembled in China, including those with solar cells produced in the U.S., Taiwan or any third country, will undercut the growth of American solar jobs and hurt our domestic solar industry.
“Suniva, based in Norcross, Georgia, is America’s leading solar manufacturer. But the Department of Commerce’s decision to broaden the scope of the case may put American companies like Suniva in the bizarre position of paying severe import duties on a product (PV cells) they manufactured in America when those cells are assembled into modules in China.
President of CASE argues against new solar tariff imposed by DOC
“More drastically, Hemlock Semiconductor announced that it plans to close its Clarksville, Tennessee manufacturing plant due to ‘on going challenges presented by global trade disputes.’ Over $1.2 billion of investment and 50 jobs will be lost, in addition to the 400 jobs already lost to layoffs in 2013 as a result of the initial 2012 tariffs.
“Given the global threat of climate change and the recent U.S.-China commitment to reduce carbon emissions, it makes absolutely no sense to impose unproductive tariffs on solar imports that also damage U.S. solar companies.
“We continue to urge the governments of the U.S. and China to accelerate negotiations to preserve free and fair trade in the global solar industry. Affordable solar panels are a good thing for the U.S., China, and the world.”
Photo by: 401(K) 2012 on Flickr
