Trump’s First Major Trade Fight With China Could Be Over Solar Panels
The United States has already imposed tariffs on solar panels from China over the past
five years, prompting Chinese manufacturers to build vast factories in Southeast Asia.
The solar panel industry could be Mr. Trump’s first test of whether his harsh rhetoric toward China will result in significant trade measures —
and whether those moves would help restore American businesses.
That has blurred the lines over the pending solar trade fight even within the United States, where
American manufacturers are squaring off against American installers and users of the panels.
Administration officials have so far allowed two solar-panel companies with factories
in the United States to ask Washington for tariffs on all solar panel imports.
The solar panel dispute comes at a time when senior administration officials have been signaling their
intention to take a much tougher trade stance toward China, where most solar panels are made.
“Everybody needs the kinds of cheaper panels, not only in China,
but also the world,” said Li Junfeng, a senior Chinese economic adviser and the architect of many of China’s renewable energy policies, at ’s Climate Tech conference on Thursday in San Francisco.
Major manufacturers in the United States and China, as well as a slew of other businesses
that buy and use solar panels, are readying for a clash that could begin as soon as January.
