The Trump administration dropped a surprise executive order that sent HR teams and immigration lawyers scrambling: a proposed $100,000 fee on H-1B visa holders.
At first, companies panicked telling staff not to leave the US for fear they wouldn’t be able to return. Within 24 hours, the White House clarified: the fee would only apply to new applicants, not existing holders.
But the damage was done. Even with that clarification, the ripple effects are clear:
Hiring calculus blown apart: $100k per new H-1B applicant instantly makes overseas talent a budget-breaking decision.
Chaos for planning: OEMs hate uncertainty, and constant policy swings undermine long-term workforce strategies.
Sector impact: While the headlines focused on tech and finance, the reality is professional, scientific, and engineering-heavy industries take the biggest hit including solar, storage, and advanced manufacturing.
R&D labs: US based research teams may think twice about expanding domestically if specialist talent costs spike.
Gigafactory ramps: H-1Bs aren’t about line workers they’re the process engineers, chemists, and automation experts who make plants run. A $100k fee at entry could derail staffing timelines.
Talent pipelines squeezed: Just as the US is scaling cell and module manufacturing, the pool of affordable international specialists could dry up.
At Tonic, we estimate 3,000–6,000 H-1B workers are already embedded in US clean-energy manufacturing, mostly in specialist engineering roles. That’s not a huge number, but they’re critical hires at the very heart of R&D and ramp-up.
