How the Solar Industry Will Recover from Trump’s 30% Solar Tariffs

On January 22, The Trump administration imposed a 30% import tariff on solar cells and modules. The solar tariff started with a request from Suniva and was shortly after joined by SolarWorld Americas — to increase the barriers against foreign import of solar cells and solar modules.

This 30% solar import tariff for crystalline-silicon solar cells and modules steps down my 5% each year, down to 15% by the fourth year. Additionally, the first 2.5 gigawatts of solar cells are exempt from the tariffs each year, which equates to approximately a quarter of a year, and is enough to power 350,000 homes in the United States.

Greentech Media has forecasted that as a result of the tariffs, the US solar market will see a net reduction in installations of around 11% this year. While this tariff will slow down the solar industry in the US, it could have been much worse, and ultimately, solar is still predicted to show tremendous growth in the coming years.

In this video, our Co-Founder Alex Yackery explains how Trump’s decision on the Section 201 solar trade case will affect the solar industry in the US, and how we will recover.