(01-30-2018, 12:26 PM)TrivialPursuit Wrote: So a bunch of companies are going to start manufacturing their solar panels in the US because of the 30% Tariff.

Is that bad?

It's bad in the sense that people who want to buy solar panels will have to pay 30% more for them, so either fewer solar panels get sold or the people who buy solar panels have less money to spend on other things and that hurts other unrelated businesses. 

For example, suppose I was going to buy $10,000 worth of solar panels, but now I have to pay $13,000 for the same solar panels.   So now I have $3,000 less in my pocket, so I decide not to go out to eat, or to the theater, and  I decide to postpone fixing my roof or getting a tree surgeon to cut a tree limb.   In addition, the people who make solar panels overseas are now out of work so they buy less stuff too, including things that we export to them.  

It's a net negative for business in general.  The tariff benefits a special interest at the expense of everyone else.

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