Solar tariffs could hit Arizona companies
A tariff war between the U.S. and China over solar panels may spill into the Arizona market.
Most industry officials believe the impact will be minimal, particularly in the short term. But as panel prices increase, experts say it could sound a death knell for some Arizona installers.
The tariffs, announced last week by the U.S. Department of Commerce, would levy a fee of 31 to 250 percent on solar panels imported from China, but there are enough loopholes that many in the industry don’t expect to see prices increase significantly.
“We do not expect our prices to increase due to the DOC ruling ... or the previous (International Trade Commission) ruling,” said Sean Sietz, president and co-owner of American Solar Electric Inc., a Scottsdale-based installer. “Even though we use Suntech products and the modules are assembled in the People’s Republic of China, the country of origin for the cells is Taiwan, which provides an exemption per both preliminary rulings.”
The preliminary DOC ruling was aimed at Chinese companies it claimed were dumping low-cost panels on the U.S. market and driving down prices artificially.
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