Vote Solar Statement on U.S. Solar Trade Case Decision
On January 22, 2018, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer announced that President Trump has approved new tariffs on imported imported solar cells and modules. Vote Solar’s Executive Director Adam Browning issued the following statement on the decision:
“America’s solar industry enhances our national security and has created hundreds of thousands of jobs across all fifty states. It’s an American success story, reliably delivering on many of the campaign promises of this Administration.
There are a lot of ways to further support the growth of U.S. renewable energy manufacturing; this job-killing tariff is not one of them. Instead, this misguided decision to impose tariffs on solar products will negatively impact thousands of workers who depend on solar to support their families, and it will hurt American competitiveness in the global economy.
That said, we know that American voters from both sides of the aisle are overwhelmingly on the side of solar progress. We are committed to working with state and local leaders to overcome these setbacks from Washington and turn public will into real clean energy action. We need their leadership now more than ever.”
President Trump has approved the following additional duties: Year 1 – 30%, Year 2 – 25%, Year 3 – 20%, and Year 4 – 15%. The first 2.5 gigawatt of imported cells are excluded from the additional tariff.
Watch our video from a solar job rally held in December in DC to urge President Trump to #SaveSolarJobs by opposing tariffs.
Media contact: Rosalind Jackson – , 415-817-5061