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The Center for American Progress reports
President Trump's decision to impose tariffs on imported solar materials is already taking its toll on U.S. jobs.
After putting plans on hold last month to expand its factories in the United States, SunPower Corp., one of the nation's largest solar panel manufacturers, now intends to lay off about 10 percent of its U.S. workforce.
SunPower attributed the job cuts to the 30-percent tariffs imposed by the Trump administration on imported solar cells and panels, The Hill reported [February 28]. Company chief executive Tom Werner estimates the new tariffs will cause the company to lose $50 million in 2018 and as much as $100 million in 2019.
Werner's comments built on information that SunPower released in a filing submitted to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) last week. The news also came only two weeks after SunPower reported a 35-percent decrease in revenue in 2017 compared to 2016.
Werner told The Hill that it has already begun laying off between 150 and 250 workers from its U.S. operations. Based in San Jose, California, SunPower imports most of its components from manufacturing facilities in the Philippines and Mexico.
Trump slapped the 30-percent tariff on imported solar cells and panels in January after the U.S. International Trade Commission ruled last year that China had harmed the domestic solar manufacturing industry with policies aimed at taking over the global market. The industry gets about 80 percent of its solar panel products from imports.
The Solar Energy Industries Association, the primary lobby group for the U.S. industry, estimates Trump's decision may cost the fast-growing industry about 23,000 jobs in 2018 and cause billions of dollars in solar investments to be canceled or delayed. The industry currently employees more than 260,000 people, primarily in the installation business.
[...] In January, SunPower said it was putting a $20 million U.S. factory expansion and hundreds of new jobs on hold until its solar panels receive an exemption from Trump's solar tariffs.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by insanumingenium on Thursday March 01 2018, @09:17PM (1 child)
If you think that there is exactly one reason for a large scale business decision you are flat wrong.
This tariff has a very short time scale, it only lasts 4 years, and falls off 5% every year. It was never going to produce domestic manufacturing, there would need to be a monstrous capital outlay to try and build a plant ASAP, then there wouldn't be a return in it before the cheaper foreign products were again available first at a drastically reduced tariff, then without tariff. What this tariff could do is significantly reduce solar demand for the next few years, good luck making a business case to push for more domestic manufacturing after that. Trump is either betting against us or is a stone blind fool.
(Score: 1) by bussdriver on Friday March 02 2018, @08:34PM
This looks more like a shakedown for the industry. The impact is short term but real - more like a mob guy breaking your leg to send a message. The industry is growing and needs to start paying bribes like everybody else in the energy sector...
Competition wants to do solar harm and delay it but this will not delay things for that long. It's not enough as the parent posted to bother investing in the USA unless you want to take the risk and this is enough to jump start beginning something.... which likely will go under if things don't come out better than they have been after the short time period is over.