BRUSSELS — A widening trade conflict over clean-energy technology is putting pressure on the global effort to replace fossil fuels with electricity from cleaner sources, as governments impose tariffs and import restrictions on products ranging from solar panels to transformers. The measures are intended to protect domestic manufacturers, secure supply chains and reduce dependence on China, which dominates much of the production of batteries, solar equipment and other green technologies. But utilities, manufacturers and energy analysts warn that the restrictions could make electrification more expensive and delay the grid upgrades needed to meet rising power demand. “It is slowing things down for sure,” said Karen Wayland, chief executive of the GridWise Alliance, a U.S. coalition of utilities, equipment makers and technology companies. Trade barriers have expanded beyond finished products to include critical minerals, components and manufacturing materials. International Energy Agency analysts said in August that tariffs, anti-dumping duties, local-content requirements and subsidy programs have multiplied across the energy-technology supply chain. Average duties affecting solar equipment increased ninefold between 2023 and 2024, according to the analysis. The pressure is arriving as electric utilities face long waits for equipment. Wayland said transformers now take nearly two and a half years to arrive, while prices have risen 158 percent since May 2020. Circuit switchers, distribution automation equipment and voltage regulators can take a year or more to deliver. Data centers and new domestic manufacturing plants are competing with utilities for the same equipment, adding to the strain. Restrictions on foreign-made grid components could intensify shortages because the United States does not yet produce enough of the equipment needed to quickly replace imports, Wayland said. President Donald Trump’s administration issued broad restrictions in August on grid equipment made by foreign companies considered potential national-security risks. The order does not identify specific countries or products, leaving the Energy Department to develop implementation rules. The White House said the restrictions are aimed at countries under U.S. arms embargoes and represent a small share of grid equipment in most product categories. It said the Energy Department would weigh national security against the need to expand the power grid. The administration has also restricted foreign-made power inverters, set minimum prices for imported polysilicon used in solar panels and imposed additional tariffs on solar equipment. Tim Pawlenty, chief executive of the Solar Energy Industries Association, said the steps could encourage U.S. manufacturing but warned that domestic suppliers cannot immediately replace all the imported components affected by the tariffs. “We need to make sure that we have enough time to turn and upgrade the supply chain,” Pawlenty said. “And as that happens, we don’t want the price point, the demand signals … to be out of whack with what’s reasonable in a marketplace.” The European Union is pursuing a similar strategy. Policymakers have proposed requirements favoring European-made clean technologies in some public purchases. But European grid operators say the region does not produce enough of certain components, including some transformer parts, to satisfy demand. Rigid origin requirements could limit procurement and increase costs rather than immediately strengthen European industry, the European Distribution System Operators association said this month. That could delay renewable-energy connections and other grid improvements. Brazil has also raised tariffs on electric vehicles and solar panels as it seeks a larger share of clean-energy manufacturing. Chris Aylett, a researcher at the Chatham House foreign-affairs institute, said emerging economies are often less focused on countering China than on capturing jobs and investment from the growing green economy. Chinese solar and electric-vehicle exports to Brazil fell between 2024 and 2025 after tariff increases, Aylett said. Brazil’s solar industry association has partly blamed the tariffs for slowing the country’s photovoltaic expansion. A European Central Bank analysis warned that trade barriers could make clean technologies more expensive than conventional alternatives. Higher prices could discourage adoption and lead to greater greenhouse-gas emissions, the analysts wrote. Supporters of trade restrictions argue that unchecked dependence on Chinese suppliers could undermine public support for climate policies and leave critical infrastructure vulnerable to geopolitical pressure. Stéphane Séjourné, the EU’s industry chief, made that case while presenting the bloc’s domestic-content proposal: “How can we explain to our fellow citizens that decarbonization is an opportunity if our batteries are made in China?” Trevor Sutton, a senior research scholar at Columbia University’s Center for Global Energy Policy, said concerns about cybersecurity and domestic manufacturing are legitimate. But he said the Trump administration’s response has been broader and less targeted than measures adopted by countries such as Japan, which limits any single foreign country to 30 percent of installed battery storage. “This is going to slow decarbonization,” Sutton said. The stakes extend beyond industrial competition. Delayed grid projects can make it harder to connect wind and solar farms, while more expensive equipment can raise costs for utilities and households. At a time when electricity demand is growing because of data centers, manufacturing and transportation, trade restrictions could make the transition away from fossil fuels slower, costlier and more vulnerable to political backlash.