Week ahead: Trump faces decision on solar panel tariffs

President Trump will decide in the coming week whether to impose trade tariffs or quotas on imported solar panels. 

The decision, expected Friday, will close a major chapter in a dispute that puts tens of thousands of jobs on the line and has tested long-standing alliances.

Trump has repeatedly criticized China and past administrations for setting up a trade system in which Beijing has been “ripping us off.”

{mosads}Solar panels imported from China already have hefty tariffs, but proponents of heavier tariffs say Chinese manufacturers get around those trade remedies by establishing operations in Vietnam and Malaysia and exporting to the U.S. from those countries. 

The legal deadline for Trump to take action is Jan. 26. He has said his decision would come “pretty soon.”

All eyes will also be on Congress, as a partial government shutdown enters its third day on Monday.

The House passed a monthlong continuing resolution to fund the government, but Senate Democrats opposed the measure, holding out for an immigration fix to protect immigrants brought to the country illegally as children.

The blame game heated up over the weekend, with both sides digging in. A bipartisan group of senators, however, is pushing their own plan to reopen the government.

If lawmakers are able to pass a funding measure and keep the government open, they’ll be able to turn their attention to energy and environment issues.

The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee is slated to consider how weather patterns affect the U.S. electric grid. 

The meeting, scheduled for Tuesday, aims to focus on the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions, and will look at how electric systems fared in winter storms such as the recent bomb cyclone that brought record-breaking freezing temperatures to the East Coast.

Representatives from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and Department of Energy are scheduled to testify. 

Members of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, as well as an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) representative, will be attending and holding meetings at the Washington Auto Show on Thursday to talk public policy. The event’s keynote address will be given by Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder (R) who is expected to talk about his vision for the auto industry’s future. EPA Assistant Administrator Bill Wehrum is slated to hold his own keynote address at lunchtime. Wehrum heads the EPA’s Office of Air and Radiation.

The EPA plans to remain open in the coming week, despite the shutdown. Administrator Scott Pruitt announced Friday afternoon that EPA funding levels would allow employees to work normal hours this week if a shutdown continues. If the shutdown were to continue through Jan. 26, however, Pruitt said further updates would be made about the agency’s operating status. 

The status for camping at national parks during the shutdown looks more bleak. The National Park Service said Friday that all campgrounds would be closed in the event of a shutdown and contingency plans listed on the Interior Department’s website said that roads in and out of parks are to be restricted “wherever possible.”

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