• Carrolade@lemmy.world
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    2 months ago

    Well, my position is not exactly in agreement. While I was curious, I think there are far more reasons to apply tariffs to certain products than simply wanting another cold war.

    • TheOubliette
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      2 months ago

      Well the US has no stimulate-able domestic industry so isolating China is the only realistic option. And this has been clear for at least a decade. There is no domestic industry making these things at any usable scale.

      Medium-scale solar panel installations are backed up over a year btw.

      • Carrolade@lemmy.world
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        2 months ago

        US manufacturing currently sat at 26 GW annually, with a 71% increase in the first quarter of the year. Demand being high is also unsurprising.

        • TheOubliette
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          2 months ago

          Over a year delay is clearly demonstrable undercapacity

          • Carrolade@lemmy.world
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            2 months ago

            Yes, most certainly. Spikes in demand can do that. If 71% growth remains consistent, it’ll be resolved in short order. Though it’ll probably dip as the overall manufacturing capacity increases, since its just a percentage of the total.

              • Carrolade@lemmy.world
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                2 months ago

                Makes sense, Biden’s big investment was just a few years ago. A single year out for medium-sized facilities is very manageable though. Hopefully demand continues to increase alongside production, and it remains a years wait for several years. That would be a sign that demand is continuing to increase.

                • TheOubliette
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                  2 months ago

                  Biden’s “big investment” went to finance and high tech wages, not production capacity.

                  And no it’s not particularly manageable the industry will need a bailout or fail shortly. They were already bailed out once w/ Silicon Valley Bank, if you recall. They were all rolled up in that. It is needed again because they are not doing well.

                  • Carrolade@lemmy.world
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                    2 months ago

                    No, actually it went heavily to infrastructure to facilitate future technology, things like electric vehicle charging stations and energy grid, along with more mundane stuff like bridge maintenance and replacement. This stimulates demand, which supply naturally follows in the quest for profits-above-all-else.

                    Not sure how an industry seeing such demand is projected to fail shortly.

                    SVB wasn’t bailed out, it was actually seized. It failed after a bank run following a lot of risky investments into new tech startups, which is a naturally high risk market. It was not due to some sort of failure in the broader solar industry.