Trump Slaps 30% Tariffs on Solar Panels in Major Blow to Renewable Energy
http://time.com/5113472/donald-trump-solar-panel-tariff/In the biggest blow he’s dealt to the renewable energy industry yet, President Donald Trump decided on Monday to slap tariffs on imported solar panels.
The U.S. will impose duties of as much as 30 percent on solar equipment made abroad, a move that threatens to handicap a $28 billion industry that relies on parts made abroad for 80 percent of its supply. Just the mere threat of tariffs has shaken solar developers in recent months, with some hoarding panels and others stalling projects in anticipation of higher costs. The Solar Energy Industries Association has projected tens of thousands of job losses in a sector that employed 260,000.
The tariffs are just the latest action Trump has taken that undermine the economics of renewable energy. The administration has already decided to pull the U.S. out of the international Paris climate agreement, rolled back Obama-era regulations on power plant-emissions and passed sweeping tax reforms that constrained financing for solar and wind. The import taxes, however, will prove to be the most targeted strike on the industry yet.
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I'm at a loss for words, WTF. I work in the renewable/green energy filed...it's our future. This idiot is on a mission to destroy this country.
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Did Dump have dinner with the Kook Bros.? What prompted this idiotic move? I'm sure aspirin stocks must be rising every day with the terror of the rethugs.
...and a danger to the entire human race. 
We didn't just turn it over, it was there for the taking.
Just like clothing and the bulk of semiconductors, they are now mass produced using automation and very cheap labor. China also has a heavy hand in controlling access to some of the basic raw materials. Therefore, it's almost impossible for us to compete. Even if we had more highly automated plants here making solar panels, there would be very little labor involved.
The Chinese have used capital gained from us via decades of trillions of sales dollars of commodity goods at Walmart/Target/Amazon, etc. to invest in basic resources (copper, iron, etc.) and automation to further push the US standard of living and job security down, and unemployment upward. They also invest heavily in research and development.
So, we fund them and they screw us. Welcome to our race to the bottom.
