Colorado’s booming solar industry could experience cloudier days because of an increase in the cost of solar panels.
As Colorado Public Radio reports, the U.S. International Trade Commission recently upheld a complaint from two manufacturers that has opened the door for the Trump administration to potentially erect trade barriers on solar panel imports, which in turn is driving up the cost of panels in Colorado.
Domestic panel makers want protection for their products – and costlier imports would help provide that protection, But that could hurt the rest of the industry, which up until now has relied on cheaper goods manufactured in South Korea, Malaysia and Mexico.
Rebecca Cantwell of the Colorado Solar Energy Industries Association, said they’ve never seen anything like this, with a few U.S. solar panel manufacturers now pitted against the remainder of the industry.
But some say increasing the taxes on imports would help the U.S. solar industry become a world leader.