That only works if SolarUSA wants to sell part of their product to an assembler. Suppose we put a huge tariff on Toyota in KY. So according to you Toyota in KY should just switch over to Ford motors. But what if Ford doesn't want to sell motors only to Toyota in KY? Ford wants to sell cars, they don't want to sell parts of their cars to assemblers. (and yes I know this is a drastic oversimplification.)
So wouldn't that force a business getting hurt by this to start buying from an American black disk maker, or else say "nope, we're sticking with what we've got" and paying 30% more COGS? If they go with the American one (and it may not be cost-effective, I get it) then jobs increase. If they don't, jobs stay pretty much how they are (distributed differently now, skewed towards American companies) except that the gov't gets 30% of the profit.
Seems about right. However, you may have overlooked the government subsidies of some manufacturing cost received by SolarShanghai to reduce the losses incurred by pricing below a profitable margin. Then it seems to me this is just the preliminaries to set the table for trade talks that may cover more territory.
What makes a level playing field? Generally it comes down to wages. There are two solutions. One, we can lower wages in the USA to make them equal to china, the Philippines, etc. I don't think any of us want that, but it is one way to level the playing field. The other way is to slap tariffs on imports. But it's not just solar panels. It's everything you buy from other countries with lower wages. Tariffs raise prices on what you buy - are you willing to pay more for all that stuff to 'buy american'? If you are, you could do so right now, in most cases (there are a few industries where there is not an American option anymore). No need to wait for tariffs. But we don't buy American, do we? We like lower prices. The problem with tariffs is that countries end up retaliating with their own tariffs, which decrease our exports and thus hurt businesses and their employees in the US. So you might help the SolarWorld employees with a tariff on solar panels, but China might put a tariff on say, soybeans (which happens to be our biggest export to China), and that hurts farmers here. Whether that's a good tradeoff or not depends on who you are. American consumers could unilaterally decide that they want to pay extra money to German-owned SolarWorld because their panels are assembled in the USA, rather than buying less expensive imports. That would have the same positive effect as tariffs without any of the negative effects. Tariffs are basically a big-government solution to something that citizens could easily do for themselves. barfo
I think the tariff on Toyota would be nationwide? But yes, if we wanted to wean ourselves off of a Japanese trade deficit by putting a tariff on Japanese cars, then Toyota plants all over would have COGS increases. They then have to decide if they want to increase price or reduce profit. Either way, that doesn't hurt Ford/Chevy/GM/Tesla, and may give them more market share. Toyota may shut down plants in KY, but since people buy cars pretty regularly, that means more production at plants for cars that pick up the slack.
Heh? A tariff on anthing made in Kentucky would not be a tariff. It would be a tax. I read nothing of a tax.
Not sure imported parts matter as much as per hour salary. ^US & pulled off google. Meanwhile I heard a rumor that in China the same job pays less than a 10th of their US counterpart. If the tariff's job is to stop solar panels from being manufactured outside of the US(and it does it's job) then it's a win for the manufacturing employee working 4/12's at solarworld. If the tarrif is on all solar panels made worldwide. Then well Trump is a dumbass. Now we'll see if Solarworld(for example) can step up their game. Or if they continue the litany of excuses they've used over the years to manufacture subpar equipment. Only to see their best employees leave because the level people are running the company into the ground.
http://dailycaller.com/2018/01/24/al-gore-trump-solar-tariff-davos/ Al Gore Defends Trump’s Solar Tariff Decision At Davos Former Vice President Al Gore did something he, admittedly, rarely does and defended a recent Trump administration decision to impose tariffs on solar cells and modules. “I don’t typically defend him,” Gore said during a panel discussion at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. President Donald Trumpannouncedon Monday a 30 percent tariff on imported cells and modules used to make solar panels that would decrease over time. The solar industry largely opposed the move, but admitted it was not a somewhat moderated decision.
I appiled to solarcity for every position they had open about a month ago and heard nothing. I love assembling solar panels and im a master solderer. Their loss.
I don't know if it can be trusted (it is CNN), but... After Trump tariffs, Chinese solar company says it will build U.S. factory
So cutting gas-guzzling, carbon dioxide-emitting motorcycles for more solar energy jobs....sounds like an environmentalist's wet dream.
