President Trump on Monday, acting on recommendations by the U.S. International Trade Commission, approved steep new tariffs on solar panels and washing machines.
The Trump administration says that by placing a tariff of 30 percent on most imported solar modules and a tariff of up to 50 percent on large residential washing machines, this will help American companies. Both tariffs will be phased out by 2022.
Whirlpool is pleased with the news, with its chairman saying it will create manufacturing jobs, but Bill Vietas, a member of the Solar Energy Industries Association and president of RBI Solar in Cincinnati, said the tariffs will hurt his industry, which has grown immensely over the past five years. "Government tariffs will increase the cost of solar and depress demand, which will reduce the orders we're getting and cost manufacturing workers their jobs," he told The Associated Press.