日前，美國總統特朗普正式批準對進口太陽能電池和光伏面板征收30%的關稅，受影響的光伏產品大多數進口自中國。部分美國光伏行業人士稱，此舉將限制平價光伏產品進入美國，并將導致許多人因此失業。

美國此次對光伏產品加增的稅額將在四年內逐年遞減。不過美國今年首批進口的2.5千兆瓦的太陽能電池將不會受此次增稅影響。

據稱，美國貿易代表署是在與美國貿易政策委員會、美國國際貿易委員會等機構進行跨部門會商后，向特朗普做出了對進口光伏產品加征關稅的建議的。美國貿易代表署去年九月就曾指出，低價光伏面板的進口已經傷害了美國制造企業的利益。

美國貿易代表署的羅伯特·萊特希澤在一份聲明中稱：“在幾個月的時間里，有一些美國企業已經國際貿易委員會提起了貿易訴訟。總統的決定再次表明，特朗普政府將始終保護美國工人、農民、牧民和企業的利益。”

雖然此次加征關稅針對的是所有外國企業，但美國貿易代表署首當其沖的目標仍是中國。據該機構提供的數據稱，由于中國對光伏產業的政策支持和巨額補貼，中國在全球光伏市場上的占有率已經從2005年的7%猛增至2012年的61%。現在全球60%的太陽能電池和71%的光伏組件都是中國生產的。

中國在光伏產業上的崛起也造成了美國光伏產業的分裂。一方面，像Suniva和SolarWorld等本土光伏企業紛紛表示，面對低價進口光伏產品的沖擊，他們已經沒有任何盈利空間。另一方面，隨著光伏產品的價格下降，美國有許多住宅、商用建筑和太陽能發電廠都用上了太陽能，從而也令美國的太陽能安裝行業受益不少。

美國太陽能產業協會表示，美國此次加征進口光伏關稅的決定將導致約23000人今年因此失業，其中也包括很多制造業崗位。并將導致數十億美元的投資因此被推遲乃至取消。

“靠加征關稅，美國造不出能滿足國內需求的電池或面板，加征關稅也救不了外資控股的Suniva和SolarWorld等公司，但它會在一個已經繁榮發展的行業造成一種危機，最終導致數萬名努力工作的美國藍領工人失業。”美國太陽能產業協會主席兼CEO阿爾蓋比·羅斯·霍珀表示。

據美國太陽能產業協會稱，截止到2016年底，美國光伏制造業約有38000名工人，但其中直接生產太陽能電池和面板的只有2000人。因此直接受到低價進口光伏產品沖擊的產業工人其實只有這么多。

特斯拉本身也是光伏產品的使用大戶，該公司對《財富》表示，該公司繼續與松下公司合作擴大紐約布法羅工廠的產能，此次對進口產品加征關稅不會對其造成影響。特斯拉既使用進口電池，也與松下合作生產電池，并可使用傳統太陽能面板和該公司最新的光伏面板發電。

美國太陽能產業協會還指出，此次加征的關稅雖然幅度甚高，但還遠沒有達到Suniva和SolarWorld等美國本土公司的要求。

比如2017年4月，美國光伏制造企業Suniva在申請破產保護后的第九天便向美國國際貿易委員會請愿，稱面對廉價進口光伏面板的大量涌入，該公司已根本無法與之競爭。SolarWorld公司也支持了Suniva的請愿。有意思的是，Suniva其實是一家主要由中資控股的公司，背后的大股東是中國太陽能面板制造商順風國際清潔能源有限公司，該公司主要在喬治亞州和密歇根州生產光伏產品。SolarWorld則是一家德國公司，在俄勒岡州設有一家子公司。

兩家公司都表示，向進口光伏產品加征關稅，將有利于在美國國內創制造業就業崗位。

不過也有20多家美國國內的太陽能安裝設備制造商于去年8月集體致信美國國際貿易委員會，稱Suniva公司要求的提高關稅一旦獲準，將導致美國的太陽能面板價格上升一倍以上，這將嚴重影響太陽能發電的成本競爭力，美國太陽能發電的高增長率或將迅速反轉。

本月月初，美國太陽能產業協會的零珀致信特朗普，要求后者不要對進口光伏提高關稅。

零珀在這封1月17日寄出的信中表示：“諷刺的是，我們最想增長的就業崗位，也就是美國制造業的就業崗位，恰恰受到的影響最大，因為太陽能發電項目的數量必將大幅縮減。這不是危言聳聽，而是即將發生的事實。另外美國國內還有不少企業專門做光伏產品的配套設備，如鋼制或鋁合金支架、逆變器、探測設備等。如果因為加征關稅而提高了光伏產品的價格，則這些下游產品的需求也將受到影響，并導致很多制造業工人失業。”（財富中文網）

譯者：樸成奎?

President Donald Trump imposed a 30% tariff on imported solar cells and panels—most of which are Chinese made—in a move that some in the industry argue will cut the flow of cheap panels to installers in the U.S. and lead to job losses.

The tariffs will decline over a four-year period. The first 2.5 gigawatts of imported solar cells are excluded from the additional tariff.

The U.S. Trade Representative made the recommendations to Trump after consulting with the interagency Trade Policy Committee and following findings by the U.S. International Trade Commission, which ruled in September that imports of low-cost solar panels have hurt U.S. manufacturers.

“These cases were filed by American businesses and thoroughly litigated at the International Trade Commission over a period of several months,” U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said in a statement. “The President’s action makes clear again that the Trump Administration will always defend American workers, farmers, ranchers, and businesses in this regard.”

Although the tariffs are meant to apply to any foreign company, the USTR focuses on China. As a result of the country’s policies and subsidies, China’s share of global solar cell production has exploded from 7% in 2005 to 61% in 2012, according to the USTR fact sheet. China produces 60% of the world’s solar cells and 71 percent of solar modules.

The issue has split the solar industry. On one side are a few solar manufacturers like Suniva and SolarWorld that say low-cost imports have made it impossible to be profitable. On the other side is the U.S. solar installation industry, which has benefited from low-cost panels that have led to explosive growth in rooftop systems on homes and commercial buildings as well as massive solar farms.

The Solar Energy Industries Association, a trade organization formed to represent all aspects of the U.S. solar industry, says the decision will cause the loss of roughly 23,000 American jobs this year, including many in manufacturing. SEIA says the decision will result in the delay or cancellation of billions of dollars in solar investments.

“While tariffs in this case will not create adequate cell or module manufacturing to meet U.S. demand, or keep foreign-owned Suniva and SolarWorld afloat, they will create a crisis in a part of our economy that has been thriving, which will ultimately cost tens of thousands of hard-working, blue-collar Americans their jobs,” said SEIA President and CEO Abigail Ross Hopper.

There were 38,000 workers in solar manufacturing in the U.S. at the end of 2016, according to SEIA, adding that all but 2,000 made something other than cells and panels, the subject of the trade case.

Tesla, which is a solar installer and a domestic manufacturer, told Fortune that the decision has not impacted its commitment to expanding manufacturing, including at its 1.2 million-square-foot factory in Buffalo, NY that is operated in a partnership with Panasonic. Tesla uses imported cells and produces its own cells with Panasonic, which are used in traditional solar panels and its new solar tiles product.

SEIA noted that the tariffs were nowhere near as steep as what Suniva and SolarWorld requested.

Manufacturer Suniva petitioned the ITC in April 2017, nine days after the company sought Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, arguing that an influx of cheap panels made it impossible for it to compete. SolarWorld supported its petition. Suniva, majority owned by Chinese solar panel maker Shunfeng International Clean Energy, made panels in Georgia and Michigan. SolarWorld is a German manufacturer that has a subsidiary based in Oregon.

Both companies have argued that tariffs would help create manufacturing jobs in the U.S.

More than two dozen domestic solar mounting equipment manufacturers and their domestic suppliers told the ITC, in a letter sent in August, that the tariffs requested by Suniva would more than double the price of solar panels in the U.S. and undercut the cost-competitiveness of solar and reversing its high growth trajectory.

SEIA’s Hopper sent a letter to Trump earlier this month urging the president not to impose new tariffs.

“Ironically, the very jobs we all want to grow, American manufacturing jobs, will retract as the number of projects are scaled back significantly,” Hopper wrote in the letter sent on Jan. 17. ” This is not hype; this is what will happen. American companies manufacture, among other things, steel and aluminum racking systems, inverters and tracking devices. Raising solar prices, as these tariffs would do, would reduce demand for those downstream products and kill manufacturing jobs.”