L R AS Published on Saturday 15 February 2020 - n° 309 - Categories:US policy, trade war
Review of the effects of US Section 201 tariffs
Two years after introducing import tariffs on solar cells and panels, the time has come to examine the effects. The U.S. International Trade Commission says they have been enough to stimulate panel production in the United States:
Hanwha Q Cells, Jinko Solar and LG have installed module factories in the USA. Five panel factories have created 3 GW of new capacity. This capacity is far less than the PV installations in the US (around 13 GW in 2019).
However, cell factories have continued to close; Panasonic and Tesla are now the only companies producing solar cells nationally. The cell manufacturers of 2018 (Suniva and SolarWorld) have disappeared. In total, cell production in the United States fell by 75% between 2016 and 2018.
Imports of crystalline silicon photovoltaic (CSPV) products into the US fell by approximately 50% between 2016 and 2018. Products shipped from China to the US fell from nearly 12% of total US imports in 2016 to less than 1% in 2018 and early 2019. China was the largest source of solar products to the US in 2016, but has now been replaced by Korea and Malaysia.
This has been noted. It is being passed on to President Trump for his decisions.
Reactions to the study on the effect of tariffs are mixed: some want to tighten them to protect the nascent domestic industry; the US Solar Industries Association (SEIA) is calling for their removal. Suniva wants to raise the level of tariffs to encourage cell production in the US.
There are two opposing philosophies: the US has seen renewable energy technologies, and thus solar, as a threat to coal and other ancient energy sources. China has given massive support for the production of components for the silicon and wafer industry, in order to create jobs.
GreenTech Media of 10 February
Editor's note There is the period before the appearance of the coronavirus and the period after. The study by the American Commission is earlier and notes some progress in panel production but a deterioration in cell production. Not to mention that nothing is said about the manufacture of silicon or wafers. Thus, the photovoltaic sector is concentrating on the production of panels, all the components of which come from abroad.
The emergence of the coronavirus is revealing the dependence (now medical, but it could become political) of the American economy on imports. It is certain that D. Trump will extend the rights to foreign components in order to create as much as possible an autonomous economic environment. The measures will be all the more rigorous and broadened as the epidemic persists. This virus is a real alarm bell.
