The U.S. solar industry is divided over a petition by a handful of companies aimed at pressuring the Obama administration to impose duties on Chinese solar imports.One of the companies alleges that China is flooding the U.S. market with under priced solar panels and subsidizing its solar industry in violation of World Trade Organization rules. China’s efforts, the company says, are burdening U.S. solar manufacturers and are partly responsible for seven U.S. companies going out of business or downsizing in the last year. Unfortunately these complaining companies can't compete. So as their last "hurrah", they are trying to go the route of protectionism. They don't care about the thousands of jobs in the service end of the business installing these cheap Chinese panels. Nor do they care that the biggest problem of solar is price, and getting cheaper panels allows for wider adoption of the technology.
The Chinese are serious about solar energy, at the moment, the USA is not. We need to get on board and support the sector with a feed in tariff ASAP, not try to pick winners
Ryan, do you suggest imposing a tariff to make US companies more competitive or not imposing a tariff to protect the service jobs? You cannot have it both ways...
ReplyDeleteI support not imposing a tariff as it will force the United States to innovate solar panels, which will, in theory, increase efficiency. Meanwhile, those installing solar panels will be benefited as they will purchase a less expensive product.
In my opinion, a tariff is not needed. Even though the United States certainly excels in a number of industries, its inherent economic structure does not emanate self-sufficiency. China provides the US with a product they have a comparative advantage in, and the United States reciprocates. This is a beneficial relationship. Furthermore, this particular dispute does not fully encompass any of the three explanations for trade protection; which are the infant industry, job creation, and national security arguments.
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