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).
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President Trump said the U.S. will work towards a barriers-free trade deal with the EU, easing tensions that had been weighing on lawmakers, markets, and corporations for days.
The First Daughter said she would close her namesake clothing, shoes, and accessories brand after 15 years in the fashion business. Trump said the decision stemmed from a career transition, though the company has seen sales fall as customers displeased with her father's policies, boycott the brand.
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The black cab drivers are exploring the possibility of bringing a class action lawsuit against the ride-hailing app, arguing that tens of thousands of them have seen their earnings dwindle with Uber's presence in the British capital. Last month, Uber won back its license to operate in London, after the transportation authority initially cited the company's poor working conditions. Cheddar's Kristen Scholer and Tim Stenovec get into the latest.
The company, which counts former House Speaker John Boehner as a board member, just brought in $119 million in funding. Now Acreage Holdings is getting ready to list shares in Canada, a significant step for the growth and acceptance of cannabis, says George Allen, the company's president.
Peter Loftus, Reporter at the Wall Street Journal, is skeptical of pharmaceutical companies touting lower drug prices. Merck may be cutting prices on medications, Loftus told Cheddar, but the ones affected represent a smaller percentage of the company's total sales.
Kaniela Ing is fighting for a lead in Hawaii's First Congressional District. Currently ranked fourth in polling, Ing urges progressive Democrats not to take a step back after Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez's historic campaign, but rather to embrace new wave politics.
Facebook has suspended analytics firm Crimson Hexagon for allegedly mishandling user data. The Boston-based company has also been banned from the site for possible ties to a Kremlin-based nonprofit and the U.S. government. Deputy Tech editor at [Mashable Michael Nuñez explains why users should be concerned.](https://mashable.com/2018/07/20/facebook-suspends-crimson-hexagon/)
The U.S. president on Sunday tweeted at Iranian president Hassan Rouhani to "never, ever threaten the United States or you will suffer consequences the likes of which few throughout history have ever suffered before." His all-caps post came in response to Rouhani's own strongly-worded message for the United States. Cheddar's J.D. Durkin gets into the latest.
