The Solar Photovoltaic Tariff of 2018

On April 26, 2017, Suniva Incorporated, a Chinese-owned U.S. manufacturer of solar cells and panels, filed a Section 201 trade case seeking protection—specifically, temporary relief—from foreign manufacturers of crystalline silicon photovoltaic (CSPV) cells and modules. U.S. trade law permits the president of the United States to grant some form of temporary relief against foreign imports that are found to officially injure a domestic industry. The filing ignited a firestorm of controversy in the solar industry inside and outside of the U.S. The sought-after protection was opposed by many renewable energy interest groups, including most of the U.S. solar energy industry itself. Opponents believed that a tariff on CSPV cells and modules would cost more jobs than they would save and, even with import protection, there was no future for CSPV manufacturing in the U.S.