Trump Proclaims. Yesterday, in a public signing in the Oval Office Trump signed the 201 tariffs in a proclamation. I can’t do the comments justice, you have to watch the video for yourself to listen to see how out of sync the comments are with reality. You have to wonder where the disconnect is when the solar industry met with the person standing behind the President but the comments remain so factually incorrect. While I expect the blame to be put on the Trump factor, I am concerned that the advocacy appears to have failed at every level, the USITC, the USTR and then the President. As a reminder, this is the third trade case that solar has lost. Outside of the ITC extension, we can’t say that DC has been kind to solar.
Don’t Buy The BS. Solar will survive is not an answer for this tariff. Yes, the market will move forward because there is no other option. BUT. This isn’t a non-factor. Solar was not advocating for this result privately. Manufacturing will still not thrive in the US. I’ve read all the spin that has come across my desk and it’s largely all BS. Most of all, this is not a good thing for solar. We’ve all been struggling to find profits within the right balance of volume. Taking 10 cents off the top means less money to pay for the operations of your solar company.
Tariff Impact Data. Greentech Media is out with the data on the impact from the tariff which is enacted on February 7th. In the next month, you will also see a process for exemptions for products that consider themselves eligible. GTM Research will be on our conference call today at 3pm.
For Sale. PREPA, the Puerto Rico public utility, is going to be privatized. Consider NextEra an interesting candidate to make that move given the need for some aid from Congress to make it work. You can also see some European players make a move to engage the process.
My View On What’s Next. Some things need to change in solar. Going 0 for 3 on trade cases means that the entire approach is broken. My thoughts on the matter. Make sure to register for SolarWakeup Live! New York to continue this discussion
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Opinion
Have a great day!
Yann