US Solar Industry Seeks Steel Overseas Following Tariffs

The Trump administration imposed a tariff on steel imports last year to force companies to buy more American metal. In a way, it made the US solar business companies do the exact opposite.

Consider the case of PanelClaw Inc., a supplier of steel racks that mount solar panels in place. Since President Donald Trump imposed tariffs on steel and aluminum last year, the Massachusetts company has increased its supply of finished racks from India, allowing it to bypass some tariffs that apply only to raw metals.

While PanelClaw is still acquiring racks made domestically from US steel, the company could partially “avoid the tariff” by importing the rest, CEO Constantino Nicolau said in a telephone interview.

PanelClaw is not alone. California-based Nuance Energy, another solar panel company, has also expanded supplies from overseas, including China, Malaysia and Mexico, as steel tariffs were imposed. According to CEO Brian Bogus by phone, an increase in supplies from overseas will be "on the table" in the event of a tariff increase.

Here's the downside: Seeking overseas won't increase U.S. jobs. “We love creating jobs locally,” Nicolaou said. But "it got a lot more complicated with the steel tariff."

Steel prices for US buyers rose about 14 percent last year after Trump, claiming foreign metal threatened US national security, imposed tariffs on all steel imports under section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962. Tariffs raise the price of imports to make them on par with domestic goods.