Financial Times: Trump's tariffs will seriously affect renewable energy in the US

US President Donald Trump's huge import tariffs will deal a serious blow to US renewable energy, as the industry relies heavily on component supplies from abroad, the British newspaper Financial Times reports, citing experts.

„The current problem is that the US still does not have a large enough domestic supply chain for many of the renewable energy sectors, solar, wind, batteries. "We have few options but to buy from abroad," said Julien Dumoulin-Smith, an analyst at investment bank Jefferies.

The newspaper noted that the United States is 90% dependent on China for lithium-ion batteries needed to power and store renewable energy. The new tariffs, combined with tariffs on the industry previously imposed, will increase import levels of Chinese batteries to 82.4% by 2026. The United States also imports up to 90% of other components and materials needed for the industry from China, Vietnam, South Korea and the EU. Thus, according to Wood Mackenzie analysts, setting tariffs of 25% for wind energy will increase the cost of projects by at least 7%.

The company's executives believe that the new tariffs will deal a double blow to the industry, as Trump also cancels support programs for renewable energy sources and shifts to fossil fuels. A number of incentives and subsidies for green producers introduced under President Joe Biden have already been canceled, and the industry is experiencing "a lot of turmoil" as companies expect Trump to finally stop supporting this policy at the expense of the budget against the background of rising tariffs.

The domestic production of green energy components in America has grown rapidly during the Biden presidency, but this pace has not been enough to achieve minimal US independence. The new policy also risks negatively impacting US manufacturers of batteries and other renewable energy components due to the lack of government support and rising raw material prices.