The Trump administration announced on Thursday it would impose new tariffs and set price floors on imports of polysilicon, a key input for both solar panels and semiconductors.
The dual effort is the administration’s latest tariff escalation and comes as it has erected numerous hurdles for renewable energy development, including the rescission of tax incentives long used to help grow the solar industry.
Supporters of the new strategic move say it’s crucial to protect and spur new investment in domestic manufacturing, while also countering China’s dominance in the supply chain. And it comes amid a boom in artificial intelligence data centers in the United States that is driving new energy demand and prompted a push by President Donald Trump to expand the domestic semiconductor industry.
“We’re bringing the chip business back into the United States in a very big way,” Trump said during a signing event Thursday.
