Economics
Solar Squabble Shows How a Trump Trade War With China Could Backfire
- REC Silicon lost 350 workers in the U.S. over three years
- Company to open $1 billion plant in China with 650 workers
U.S. and China Already in Solar Trade War
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For a cautionary tale on how a trade war with China could backfire against the U.S. under President Donald Trump, talk to REC Silicon ASA Chief Executive Officer Tore Torvund.
After the U.S. slapped duties on Chinese solar panel exports in 2011, China shot back about a year later with measures against the American polysilicon exports used to make those units. Along with other producers in the U.S., REC Silicon, a Norwegian company which produces the material at factories in Moses Lake, Washington and Butte, Montana, was clobbered.