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Quiz 1
Tariff’s have been an interesting topic in economics. They are one of those economic ideas
where theoretically it sounds plausible but you can also see the negative side effect. It is a case
by case scenario. From what I have read the tariff was set in place because Chinese
manufactures found a loophole in a previous tariff’s in place by importing a specific cell
component from Taiwan allowing them to sell below the cost of manufacture and the Chinese
companies were benefiting from subsidies at the same time. With the new tariff implemented
they were forced to pay anti-dumping duties of anywhere between 26.71 to 78.42 percent on
the imports of solar panels.
The main issue with this tariff in my opinion is it pushes china away from renewable
energy. China is responsible for nearly 25 percent of global carbon emissions making them the
largest polluter in the world. The united states is the second largest polluter coming in at 15
percent. Essentially we need all the help we can get in moving towards a greener world.
However, should we let people abuse the system of subsidies and tariff’s loopholes for their
own personal gains? In my opinion definitely not. There needs to be a happy-medium, in which
there is incentive to produce sustainable power resources while still profiting. Another thought
is tariff’s often support the incentive of innovation. Solar power is incredibly inefficient. The
world record came in 2014 was set at a 46% efficiency rating, although the standard is much
lower. One line of thinking is that by imposing a high tariff on solar panels it could redirect
funding from high output manufacturing towards research and efficiency increases. Producing
less solar panels with more efficient results could not only increase sales but also use less
building materials and lower import costs. Another Pro by placing the tariff is that it allows for
the United states to have a fair shot at producing solar panels due to our high labor cost there is
probably no other way we would be able to compete. The cheap in house production of solar
panels after the tariff has created two sides. One side stating that the low prices have created a
wider adoption of solar energy creating thousands of jobs in the united states. The opposing
