Tariffs On Solar Panel Imports Announced

ppine wrote:
This is an example of the worst kind of government intervention. Making desirable products that produce clean energy more expensive. Beyond stupid.

Stupider (???) than killing our own beans and other agricultural sector, making the farmers suffer, when we're supposed to fed the world with our produce?

JimK-NY

I am going to treat this as a serious inquiry. Am I making a mistake?

About 95% of Chinese CONSUMER items imported to Mexico are not unloaded in containers at Mexican ports such as Manzanillo or Lazaro Cardenas.

The OVERWHELMING percentage of ship container CONSUMER goods arrived at the Port of Los Angeles and then are trucked to Aduanals. OTAY MESA and Cd JUAREZ are examples.

From there the items are freighted to warehouses in Tijuana, Juarez and Monterrey. Then again to large cities further south. Containers for the most part are not re-loaded they make direct yard to yard transfers.

Lazaro Cardenas, Michoacan is no 1 for bulk freight from China. But warehousing area sucks. So pallets and carboys, and shipping containers are loaded directly onto waiting trucks. I can thank Ismael Gutierrez, head of SAT Aduana in Lazaro Cardenas for a personal one hour tour. A 40' freight container was shipped by me from the port of Long Beach to Lazaro Cardenas in 1989. It weighed 9,500 lbs and cost me almost five thousand dollars (the more you ship the cheaper it gets). It took 35 agonizing days.

There is a generations old saying in Mexico...

"When the United States gets a cold, Mexico gets pneumonia."

There is a solid exception to shipping rules. Imported overseas foodstuffs, fresh or canned, are direct from country of origin. Chile, Australia, New Zealand, Uruguay.



About 35% of fuels now originate in the USA. Gasoline imports are near 50%

So what news story is being referenced?
I've been in the solar business for many years. I've seen prices free fall for solar panels. Just 12 years ago my wholesale price on a panel was somewhere between $6 and $5 per watt. Now, if I buy in quantity from the right vendor I can get panels for under $.50 per watt. So, let's say the $.50 per watt goes up 25%, that makes it about $.63 per watt. That's still about an 1/8 of what I used to pay. I don't think it's that big a deal. I guess it's all in perspective.

MEXICOWANDERER wrote:
Comments about the Solar Blvd Kit, below? Price includes shipping...

https://www.solarblvd.com/products/12-volt-360-watt-mono-solar-panel-kit-with-free-shipping/

I wouldn't buy that kit, but more importantly, I keep seeing posts about how great Solar Blvd is. A couple months ago I called, and they were just about out of business. Only a few 80w panels left at that time, and the clerk I spoke with was looking for his next job. So I called just now, and their 888 number is not working. Their web presence is definitely not kept up to date on stock.

I would suggest we don't sing their songs anymore unless/until someone successfully completes a transaction with them.

Amazon has plenty of panels available, and free shipping for the 12v varieties.

ppine wrote:
This is an example of the worst kind of government intervention. Making desirable products that produce clean energy more expensive. Beyond stupid.

:)

This is an example of the worst kind of government intervention. Making desirable products that produce clean energy more expensive. Beyond stupid.

I had no idea Trump tariffs would increase prices in Mexico.

Comments about the Solar Blvd Kit, below? Price includes shipping...

https://www.solarblvd.com/products/12-volt-360-watt-mono-solar-panel-kit-with-free-shipping/

MEXICOWANDERER wrote:
Any snide remarks please kill the thread...

That probably won't take long. :)

I don't know how this will affect my FSLR stock.