A Year After Trump Taxed Solar Imports, There’s One Big Winner

It’s been a little over a year since President Donald Trump slapped tariffs on solar equipment imports in the name of American jobs and manufacturing.

Since then, one of the U.S. panel makers that fought for the duties has been acquired, and the other is bankrupt. U.S. solar jobs fell 3.2 percent last year. And it turns out the one clear winner is an American manufacturer that has plants in Vietnam and Malaysia and didn’t even initially ask for the duties.

First Solar Inc., which sells more than any other U.S. solar manufacturer, is the biggest beneficiary because it use ...