As reported by Phoenix Business Journal, Suntech Power Holdings Co. Ltd. announced Thursday evening it was slowing production at its Goodyear facility and laying off 50 workers, the result of oversupply in the global solar panel market and recent trade restrictions imposed by the U.S.
The Wuxi, China-based company opened its factory in Goodyear in 2010 at the height of global expansion in panel making. The company plans to drop output at the facility from 45 megwatts annually to 15 megawatts annually.
Company officials said the efforts were in line with Suntech’s plans to remake its operations globally.
“We will continue to produce solar panels in Arizona to meet the needs of our customers, particularly those who are willing to pay a premium for U.S.-manufactured products,” said E.L. “Mick” McDaniel, managing director of Suntech America, in a statement.
The company said a recent trade decision by the U.S. International Trade Commission to impose a 35.9 percent tariff on Suntech solar cells made in China also has made it more costly to do business in the U.S.
Groups such as the Greater Phoenix Economic Council and the city of Goodyear went on the record to opposed those tariffs.
