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Positives and negatives to President Trump's solar tariff

Posted at 5:14 PM, Jan 23, 2018
and last updated 2018-01-24 05:40:28-05

Here in South Florida solar power is a growing industry.

The fear is how a newly imposed tariff will impact sales. President Trump has imposed a 30 percent tariff on imported solar modules.

At Solartech Universal, a solar assembly manufacturer, Tim Drappi says his business is growing just like the industry.

"We still have a far way to go," said Drappi.

So will a tariff stop the momentum?

"Kind of a double-edged sword because you want to support all solar," said Drappi.

"Increase the cost of our product," said Justin Hoysradt with Vinyasun.

He says the tariff could increase prices for solar installation.

"We're hoping that our company can shoulder the brunt of the price increase if not all of it," said Hoysradt.

Drappi says the tariff may have a positive impact.

"Be able to increase our demand because our product becomes more competitive in terms of cost," said Drappi.

He says it's really too soon to tell at this point the ultimate impact of the tariff.