President-elect and self-proclaimed “tariff man” Donald Trump has vowed a “manufacturing renaissance,” pledging tariffs to bolster US-made products and reduce import reliance. Trump plans to impose tariffs ranging from 60% to 100% on Chinese goods sold to American businesses, and a 20% universal tariff on other global imports. His aim is to increase the price of imported goods to make American-made products more appealing. During his first term, Trump placed tariffs on solar panels, washing machines and certain metals, which were kept by the Biden administration. Economists see Trump’s proposal as a double-edged sword, as although it could rebalance the US economy, it may lead to higher interest rates and reignite inflation. The tariffs are estimated to cost a typical American household over $2,600 a year, and could cost American consumers between $46 billion and $78 billion in spending power each year. “[There will be] some increase in costs – that’s the price you pay – but the benefit is it will begin to put in place some industrial capability in the United States that I think is desperately needed. I think it’s needed for jobs. I think it’s needed for middle, industrial class and lower-skilled workers all over the country,” said Bayard Winthrop, founder and CEO of apparel manufacturer American Giant. According to pro-tariff researchers, a 10% universal tariff could create 2.8 million jobs. Although Trump’s previous tariffs boosted steel jobs, it harmed import-reliant industries and exports. Large economies such as such as China, the United Kingdom and the European Union are preparing for a large economic blow throughout Trump’s term due to his proposed tariffs. Experts have emphasized the need for a “strategic application” of tariffs, recommending a “gradual increase over time.”
Senate Bill 1190
The Washington County Board of Supervisors passed a resolution Tuesday formally opposing a new Virginia state Senate bill that seeks to strip away local control from governing solar energy projects.
“I oppose this with every bone in my body,“ Supervisor Saul Hernandez said at Tuesday’s meeting in Abingdon, Virginia. “And, when you look at it, it’s absolutely horrible.“
The bill, carried by Sen. Creigh Deeds, D-Charlottesville, would create the Virginia Energy Facility Review Board. The purpose of the board is to review proposed energy projects, such as solar farms, according to Hernandez.
Senate Bill 1190 “requires the Review Board to issue a regional energy report that models each planning district’s meaningful annual contribution to clean energy generation, energy efficiency measures, and energy storage.”
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It further “requires the Review Board to establish a model local ordinance for siting, permitting and zoning of critical interconnection projects and all other ground-mounted front-of-meter solar energy and energy storage projects.
The bill also would require each locality to adopt an ordinance for the permitting of solar energy facilities and energy storage facilities, that is consistent with the Commonwealth Clean Energy Policy and the model ordinance and submit it to the Review Board.
On Thursday the legislation was referred from the General Laws and Technology Committee to the Committee on Commerce and Labor by a unanimous 15-0 vote.
On Tuesday, Hernandez said he was not against renewable energy or solar projects, but added, “I am against this overreach.”
The state board would review applications for solar projects, then would recommend these proposals to local governments, Hernandez said.
If the local government rejected a proposed plan, a developer could then take the locality to court and settle the matter in Circuit Court, Hernandez said.
Hernandez recalled how the county leaders in 2024 investigated a proposed project by Texas-based Catalyst Energy to place solar panels on about 2,000 acres of land zoned both industrial and agricultural.
“It never actually came to our board for a vote,” Hernandez said. “It went to the Planning Commission, and they rejected it. But I think we all know how it would have gone had it come to us.”
Hernandez called the proposed legislation “arrogant” and said it undermines local governments ability to set forth zoning, which was established in Washington County in 1971.
This state board would require localities to adopt a solar ordinance consistent with a statewide model, Hernandez said.
That could be in conflict with a proposed ordinance change that is slated to come for review by the Planning Commission later this month, which will limit any and all solar farms to 5 acres in Washington County.
This legislation would mean that the county leaders would have to “defend“ any positions “to some state bureaucrat,“ Hernandez said.
“I know the reason they’re doing this. The Commonwealth of Virginia has written a check it can’t cash,” Hernandez said, referring to the Clean Economy Act, a mandate that Virginia must turn more towards renewable energy by 2035.
The supervisor said he wants to evaluate any project in the county and not have the state tell him what’s good for the Tyler District that he represents.
“They don’t know anything about the Tyler District. I do. I live in it,” he said.
On a motion by Hernandez, the board voted unanimously to pass the resolution opposing the state legislation.
“This is a good statement being made by our board of supervisors that we are against these activities that are an overreach of state power,“ Supervisor Dwayne Ball said.
Urban areas “do not eat without us,” Ball said. “They didn’t build their cities without our coal.”
This legislation “opens a Pandora’s box” that could tell a county “what to do with our own land,” Ball said.
Supervisor, Wayne Stevens said the legislation makes him “mad” on how “they’re trying to go around the corner on us and leave us holding an empty bag.”
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