🧃Tariffs, Tantrums and Turbines

Welcome to The Strawman, the daily climate newsletter that’s trying to keep its circuits cool while the power grid melts under policy whiplash. If green energy were a houseplant, Donald Trump just moved it into a cupboard, locked the door, and cranked the heating.

Trump’s Trade Tantrum Hits the Grid

Donald Trump’s new tariffs — ranging from 10% to a whopping 49% — have landed like a brick on the solar panel. The targets? Electrical components, battery storage systems, and pretty much anything that helps America run on sunshine instead of smoke. That’s bad news for renewables, which are still heavily reliant on parts from abroad — particularly China and Southeast Asia.

Battery storage, the literal backbone of any renewable setup, is especially vulnerable. Over 90% of US-deployed lithium-ion cells last year came from China. With tariffs set to bring total duties on these up to a staggering 82.4% by 2026, storing clean power is about to get a whole lot pricier.

Green Energy’s Tariff Trouble

This is a double gut-punch for the renewables sector. Not only is it getting slapped with tariffs, it’s also dealing with the wider Trump 2.0 fossil-fuel revival. The Biden-era Inflation Reduction Act had sparked a wave of green manufacturing projects — over 200 since its passage — but many haven’t even broken ground yet. Now, with domestic supply chains still growing and imports becoming unaffordable, developers are stuck in the middle of a very expensive transition.

Solar panels? Still mostly imported. Wind turbine parts? Largely made in Europe. The transformers and circuit breakers that keep the whole show running? Often sourced from Canada or Mexico. Even US-made storage systems still rely on Chinese components, which are now getting caught in the tariff net. All of this adds up to slower projects, higher bills, and developers nervously checking their bank accounts.

Can the US Keep the Lights On?

The clean energy sector isn’t just grumbling about profits — it’s sounding the alarm about energy reliability. AI data centres, EV chargers, and new tech all require serious juice. With demand surging and the grid already showing signs of strain, higher costs and delayed infrastructure could leave the US playing catch-up.

Worse still, investment confidence is wobbling. Why pour billions into a project that might get torpedoed by tariffs or lose its incentives overnight? Analysts are warning of delays, cancellations, and a tilt back toward cheaper (and dirtier) energy sources.

This isn’t just a trade issue — it’s a full-on energy strategy wobble. And while Trump rallies the base with promises of “energy dominance,” the rest of the sector is wondering if they’ll even be able to plug things in.

The Takeaway
Tariffs might be good politics, but they’re bad news for clean energy. Without stable policy and smarter trade thinking, America’s green future could be stuck in customs.