President Donald Trump’s attempt to create U.S. jobs by taxing solar panel imports could backfire.
That’s according to the CEO of the Solar Energy Industries Association trade group, who says it’s domestic workers that will feel the pain.
“We have been the fastest growing form of new energy...and this is putting the brakes on that crazy growth,” Abigail Ross Hopper told Cheddar in an interview. “These are not people who are looking for what nationality the company they work for is. They just want to feed their families and pay their mortgages. And those are the people whose jobs are at risk.”
Earlier this week President Trump signed a law that would impose a 30 percent tariff on imported solar panel and sells, a move the administration says will encourage domestic manufacturing.
But the SEIA says the vast majority of the 260,000 Americans employed in the industry work in peripheral industries like installation. Ross Hopper says the bill will result in 23,000 layoffs this year and delay or cancel billions of dollars of investment in the sector.
She also says it might dissuade U.S. consumers from going green.
“Most [businesses and consumers] want to choose solar because it saves them money,” she said. “This decision changes that calculus.”
For full interview [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/solar-power-in-america).
The final vote was 84-13, mirroring a similarly overwhelming margin in the House that, if maintained in both chambers, would be enough to override a potential veto.
Gun and ammunition sales have surged this year in the U.S. Michelle Castillo investigates.
Several states along with the Federal Trade Commission have launched lawsuits against Facebook for snuffing out competition through acquisitions. Cheddar's Michelle Castillo reports.
Stockton, California Mayor Michael Tubbs, started a pilot UBI program in 2019 that just got a big boost in funding from Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey.
The number of people applying for unemployment aid jumped last week to 853,000, the most since September, evidence that some companies are cutting more jobs as new virus cases spiral higher.
Lawmakers are embracing a one-week extension of government funding to buy time for more COVID-19 relief talks.
Connecticut Attorney General William Tong joined Cheddar to discuss the multi-state antitrust lawsuit against the social media giant Facebook even as the FTC filed its own legal action.
Rep. Jim Clyburn, the Democratic congressman from South Carolina, stood up for President-elect Joe Biden's Cabinet selections so far.
Deaths from the coronavirus in the U.S. have soared to more than 2,200 a day on average.
A deadline set Tuesday under federal law essentially locks in President-elect Joe Biden’s victory, even though President Donald Trump is still falsely claiming he won reelection.
