Commitments around the world to combat climate change present an opportunity for U.S. manufacturers to export domestic clean energy technologies, yet U.S. tariffs have made U.S.-manufactured technology less competitive around the world. In a new analysis, AAF’s Director of Energy Policy Ewelina Czapla examines the impact of trade barriers on green technology, and particularly on solar panels. Reducing trade barriers will strengthen both U.S. exports and the manufacturing sector, she argues. 

Her central points:

• The Trump Administration’s tariffs on both products specific to solar panels as well as broader intermediate goods such as aluminum have driven up the cost of green technology designed and manufactured in the United States;
• These tariffs have not only resulted in higher prices on solar panels in the United States but also reduced the number of domestic jobs and undermined their ability to compete globally; and
• While Congress has not been an active participant in the recent rounds of tariffs, the best way to reduce tariffs now is for Congress to pass legislation.

Read the analysis.