SunPower puts U.S. expansion on hold
SunPower Corp said it was putting a $20 million U.S. factory expansion and hundreds of new jobs on hold until its solar panels receive an exclusion from federal tariffs the Trump administration has imposed.
President Donald Trump's decision to impose tariffs on cheap imported panels was intended to protect American manufacturing jobs, but many believe that tariffs will raise costs and trigger thousands of layoffs in the installation end of the industry.
California based SunPower does most of its manufacturing in the Philippines and Mexico, will be hit harder than most in the industry by the announced 30 percent tariff on imported solar modules. Chief Executive Tom Werner said in an interview with Reuters.
"We make a different product that's higher efficiency and that product costs more," Werner said. "We pay a higher tariff despite the fact that it's an American technology."
SunPower believe its premium-priced panels should receive an exemption from the tariffs because their technology cannot be compared with that of more conventional models.
The Trump administration did not announce any product exemptions when it unveiled the tariffs. The U.S. Trade Representative will announce the rules for requesting an exclusion by Feb. 22. The tariffs will take effect Feb. 7.