Creating Test for Trump, Panel Says Imported Solar Gear Hurts U.S. Firms<br />The commission ruled 4-0 in a case that focused on the question of whether the financial woes of two companies, Suniva<br />and SolarWorld Americas, were caused by their own business practices or by unfair competition, often from Chinese companies that benefit from state subsidies.<br />Scott Canada, a senior vice president at McCarthy Building Companies, said<br />that uncertainty surrounding the case had brought a flurry of business this year “to a screeching halt” and that the imposition of high tariffs could stall the industry for 18 months or more.<br />Although companies like Sunrun, which focuses on installing panels on residential rooftops, said they could withstand higher prices, developers of large-scale<br />projects said they were already seeing a slowdown as customers pulled back from committing to deals that could become uneconomical if costs rose.<br />WASHINGTON — A flood of imported solar equipment has seriously hurt American companies, the International Trade Commission ruled on<br />Friday, setting up a major test of President Trump’s willingness to use the protectionist measures he endorsed during the campaign.<br />“We brought this action because the U. S. solar manufacturing industry finds itself at the precipice of extinction<br />at the hands of foreign market overcapacity,” the company, which is based in Georgia, said in the statement.<br />The Solar Energy Industries Association has argued<br />that the petition filed with the commission by the companies was “deeply flawed” and that bad management, not trade injustices, had brought on their problems.
