Trump's Tariffs on Solar Panels Will Set US Climate Action Back

They tilt the energy field in favor of emission-spewing fossil fuels

- David Fickling

There are few places where inflation is felt as profoundly these days as tariff rates. A few months ago, US President Donald Trump's election campaign promise of a 10% levy on all US imports seemed shocking. Now we're looking at a 46% rate on Vietnam and 14.5% on China. Last week, Washington went one better: If you're manufacturing solar panels in Cambodia, you could face a 3,521% impost on any modules sent off to the US. Alongside lower levies imposed on Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam, that means about 80% of US panel imports face taxes that make Trump's Liberation Day tariffs look modest.

Levies as high as these are essentially bans, and the effect could be profound. For the best part of a decade, the cost advantages of photovoltaic electricity have made it the clear front-runner every time a US power company has looked to build a new plant. Two-thirds of new generating capacity last year was solar, with most of the remainder made up of wind and batteries that are often co-located with it. Everything else took a scant 6%.