As shown earlier in the news, President Trump has announced that he will impose new tariffs on imports of solar panels from China, signaling new isolationist and protectionist methods of foreign policy. As a result of these new policies, various economic pundits have scrambled to do economic predictions for the various impacts this foreign policy will have on the future of international relations.
To begin with, these tariffs continue Trump's agenda against globalism and free trade. In his recent rhetoric, Trump has echoed the same ideals he spoke about on the campaign trail of abandoning globalism and intergovernmental cooperation in economic activities in favor of trying to put American interests first. However, this approach seems to abandon American interests because many private sector industries enjoy global dominance and cooperation with foreign corporations and conglomerates. This tariff on Chinese goods is more of a political stunt to put more pressure on China and to try and distance the US from Chinese competition and to make the cost of doing business with the US much higher.
However on a more long-term basis (and possible even short-term) this damages the United States for several reasons. The first major reason is that the renewable energy industry is quickly becoming one of the most important industries for the future of the world economy. Renewable energy is becoming more lucrative and favorable as consumer interests diversify and offers more opportunities to provide energy that non-renewable energies do not have the capabilities of. These tariffs create more expensive conditions for the US to do business with China and decreases the capabilities of the US to exploit and utilize solar energy, signaling the policy preferences of the President.
However, much more damaging in the immediate future is the effect this action will have on international affairs especially in regards to China. Not only does this increase in tariffs on Chinese exclusive goods promote further tension between the two largest economies, but it also makes things much more tense in other speheres of the market. Asian markets as a whole will be more wary of doing business with the United States and China will seem to be a much more willing negotiator in future business contracts. The United States has already lost the edge in the renewable energy sector by formerly beginning the process to withdraw from the Paris Agreement and now stands to lose even further ground in international markets. This behavior also has the potential to start a trade war with China in which the details of a possible trade war have been outlined several times in the past, but to be put simply the US would stand to lose the most from one.
