Solar is the fastest growing form of energy generation in the United States, and the Trump administration is about to make it more expensive — right after the midterm elections.
President Donald Trump announced Thursday that he will set a price floor for polysilicon, one of the key components of solar panels and semiconductors, and impose a 15 percent tariff on products made from the material. The goal is to make domestic manufacturers more competitive with inexpensive Chinese importers.
“This will bring the supply chain here,” said Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick. “We’re setting prices so that the Chinese can’t dump anymore, and we’re setting tariffs to say build it here.”
Previous presidents have already tried this and failed. The federal government subsidized the solar industry for decades, and President Barack Obama slapped tariffs on Chinese panels. But China still controls more than 80 percent of the market.
Pivoting from Chinese suppliers will not be easy. The U.S. has only two polysilicon factories, and China produced 93 percent of the world’s supply in 2024.
The tariffs and price floor will raise the costs of Chinese solar panels and the inputs needed for U.S. manufacturing. As panels become more expensive, U.S. demand will slow and shift to less clean forms of energy. Meanwhile, China continues to move toward renewable energy over fossil fuels.
By Trump’s decree, companies will not be allowed to try softening the blow of higher prices. The changes won’t go into effect until Dec. 4, and the executive order blocks businesses from stockpiling polysilicon before then. The president directed the U.S. government to restrict the imports of any companies suspected of overbuying.
Power use in the U.S. is poised to set record highs this year. Grids are already becoming strained as data center construction accelerates. What a terrible time to slap a new tax on a way to expand generation capacity.
Americans need all the energy they can get. If the Chinese government wants to subsidize cheap solar panels for U.S. buyers, let it.
The post Solar power is about to get more expensive. Thank Trump. appeared first on Washington Post.
