美国国家公共电台 NPR In Solar Trade Dispute, Will Proposed Tariffs Cost Industry Jobs?

AILSA CHANG, HOST:

A trade dispute has different parts of the solar industry in the U.S. at odds 1 with one another. Two U.S. manufacturers say they cannot compete with cheap solar panels from China. So they're asking regulators to impose a tariff 2. That has companies that install solar systems worried. Will Stone of member station KJZZ in Phoenix 3 reports.

WILL STONE, BYLINE 4: This trade case hasn't even been decided 5 yet. But solar installers, like Mark Holohan, are already feeling the effects.

MARK HOLOHAN: So here we are in our warehouse 6.

STONE: Holohan's company, Wilson Electric based near Phoenix, installs solar in places like schools and office buildings. And like many, he's relied on a cheap plentiful 7 supply of panels made overseas, mostly in Asia. But a proposed tariff has the industry so worried, panels are hard to come by.

HOLOHAN: We have a sort of a panic buying mode in the marketplace right now. Inventories 8 have fallen. Prices have risen.

STONE: In the short term, they'll get by he says. But...

HOLOHAN: There's a threat of a very large price hike looming 9 if the total request on the trade case is granted. And so that makes life very difficult for us.

STONE: In fact, some industry leaders call it an existential threat, warning it could result in the loss of nearly a third of all solar jobs. But two U.S. makers 10 of panels argue the opposite. They filed a complaint saying inexpensive imports have dealt them serious injury and they need protection.

TIM BRIGHTBILL: If you lose the manufacturing, then all of the innovation, all of the know-how 11, all of the investment will go overseas.

STONE: Attorney Tim Brightbill represents SolarWorld, one of the companies requesting steep tariffs 12. He argues a trade barrier would actually add jobs - more than 140,000. Otherwise, U.S. manufacturers of solar panels...

BRIGHTBILL: Can't compete with foreign governments, with foreign dumping and subsidies 13 and a global surge of imports. And they shouldn't have to.

STONE: Brightbill says SolarWorld successfully pushed for tariffs on Chinese panels before, but those safeguards haven't helped enough. Now they want a tariff on imports from anywhere in the world. Aaron Fellmeth is a professor of international law at Arizona State University.

AARON FELLMETH: There is no example in history of an industry that has prospered 14 in the long run thanks to a safeguard measure.

STONE: This case may fall to President Donald Trump 15. Given his criticism of NAFTA, support for U.S. manufacturing and fossil fuels, Trump would likely support a tariff, says Fellmeth. But he warns that could backfire.

FELLMETH: It's a short-term fix that ignores the long-term problem.

STONE: Consumers will pay more for solar, he says. And other areas of solar manufacturing could suffer - companies like Quick Mount PV, which is based in California and makes equipment to mount solar panels.

JEFF SPIES: If the intention is to defend U.S. manufacturing, the decision is clear - dismiss this case with no penalties.

STONE: Jeff Spies is head of policy a Quick Mount PV.

SPIES: I can't even think of anything that comes close to the threat that we see with this particular trade case. Ninety-thousand jobs lost in any other industry would have a lot of politicians freaking out.

STONE: A bipartisan coalition 16 of senators and some conservative free market groups did come out against any trade protections. What makes this case so infuriating to many in the solar industry - the two companies asking for the tariffs aren't even all American. SolarWorld is owned by a German company, which declared insolvency 17. And Suniva, which recently went bankrupt, is now majority owned by a Chinese firm. Mark Holohan of Wilson Electric shakes his head.

HOLOHAN: While they have manufacturing here, they aren't even headquartered here. They're headquartered elsewhere. So it's definitely a world market we're dealing 18 with.

STONE: Soon regulators will rule whether that globalized market has actually hurt the domestic industry. If the answer is yes, President Trump will decide the remedy. For NPR News, I'm Will Stone in Phoenix.