As of today, the Section 201 tariff exemption for imported bifacial solar modules has been repealed — with the panels now subject to a 20% penalty, the same tariff imposed on almost all imported crystalline silicon solar panels since 2018. Here is the U.S. Court of International Trade’s ruling.
The tariff is scheduled to drop to 18% in February of next year.
The Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) is opposed to these tariffs. In a recent press briefing, Abigail Ross Hopper, CEO of the trade organization said, “We are asking President-elect Biden to remove those tariffs a year early.”
Hopper said that signals from the Biden transition indicate an understanding of the impact of tariffs upon the industry. She notes that domestic solar manufacturing has seen five solar companies started in the U.S. and that repealing the section 201 tariff might cause U.S. facilities to fail. “It won’t come as a surprise to domestic manufacturing that those tariffs will end. It is not working.”
She said there are ways to bring manufacturing back to the U.S. without being reliant on tariffs and cited a recent whitepaper with goals of 100 GW of domestic manufacturing capacity for renewable energy.
The plaintiffs may file new lawsuits directly challenging Trump’s proclamation, according to Reuters. SEIA’s general counsel John Smirnow, said the trade group might sue over the ruling.
Historically, import tariffs have been a blunt instrument with a track record full of unintended consequences. Certainly, module tariffs contribute to the U.S. having some of the highest utility-scale solar costs.
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Good thing the Tesla Solar Glass Tiles are made in USA so the great prices won’t go up right now. Lets build them all here in the USA and get back the 30% tax credit to get panel manufaturers working
Not so sure about those tiles being built in the US.
The Solar Active tiles are made just outside of Buffalo, New York. The inactive glass tiles, mounting brackets, trim pieces, inverters, rapid shut down/combiners and water seal underlayment are all “Made in China.” How else could they build up a whole 2,000 square foot roof with 7,800 watts of solar and inverters, permits, old roof removal and 400 man hours of labor for $32,500.00? The Rapid Shut Down/Combiners feed a MPPT 250 volt AC utility following invert that can produce power from panels that total as little as 50 volts up to a maximum of 400 volts. The combiners will shunt out shaded tiles and allow the unshaded tiles to pass through to the invertert so it is almost like micro-inverters and there is one for every 5 active tiles.that add up to 290 watts and 55 volts at each combiner max. My roof has 134 active tiles and over 300 inactive tiles or metal trim pieces.
Hanwha is the new SolarWorld.
Content on this site needs to be CLEARLY separated between fact and opinion. I do not agree with the snap statement of “dumb tariffs” especially when it comes to an major adversary that plays by communist party rules. Saying “blunt instrument” also potentially implies “ineffective”. Really? I would call it incredibly effective in getting China’s attention. They are an absolute juggernaut because they play by their own rules (yes, that’s my opinion).
Also we insist that financial statements for public companies be audited and transparent. Why aren’t we doing this with any news source that we allow to be read within US borders? No it’s not a free for all for public dissemination of content to our country’s readers, any more than it is free for our investment markets. Arguably the first is even more valuable than the second.
For example who owns this news website? This hit me smack in the head when I read “dumb world of solar module tariffs”. Really? This sounds suspiciously like an opinion to me.
Why not educate us (again titled under opinion) what the “smart solar world tariffs” looks like and encourage professional industry discussion on this website? You would get lots of readership and maybe your content would get picked up by the bigger news players. Obviously this subject is critical to the US solar manufacturing market.
Before this site becomes a target itself I suggest this: a) make clear who owns this news site, b) separate fact from opinion (yes that’s the editor’s job to enforce – don’t pass the buck and say “readers are smart enough” because no we are not – as a class we are duped online everyday), and c) make sure that subscribers don’t leave, but rather stick around to provide constructive opinion because they have a voice you encourage them to use.
Articles that are opinion should say OPINION. Allow commentary under the rules of courtesy / community standards for all who participate.