SunPower Corp (NASDAQ:SPWR) shares are trading higher Tuesday as high short-interest stocks gain amid the return of trader “Roaring Kitty” to social media. Additionally, the Biden administration raised tariffs on Chinese solar panels.

What To Know: The mania in meme stocks this week stems from a social media post from Keith Gill, best known as “Roaring Kitty” on YouTube and X or “DeepF***ingValue” on Reddit.

Following a three-year hiatus from social media, Gill took to X over the weekend, posting a meme of a person leaning forward in a chair, which sparked a rally in shares of GameStop Corp (NYSE:GME) and several other heavily shorted stocks.

Gill is often credited with kicking off the meme stock craze of 2021. He posted a series of videos on YouTube leading up to the historic short squeeze in GameStop, detailing why he believed the stock was undervalued. When GameStop shares started squeezing to the upside, he began posting updates of his positions on Reddit's r/WallStreetBets.

SunPower shares are rallying as traders continue to target high short interest names. When sorting Fintel’s short squeeze leaderboard by short float, SunPower jumps to the top of the list. According to data from Benzinga Pro, 59.04% of SunPower’s float is currently sold short.

Separately, new CNBC reports indicate the import tax on Chinese solar cells will double this year from 25% to 50% as President Joe Biden implements tariff hikes across electric vehicles, solar panels and batteries to protect American industries from unfair competition.

“China is producing at a rate and with a trajectory that's far in excess of any plausible estimate of global demand,” a senior administration official reportedly said on a Monday. 

“That is going to flood the global market with supply that undercuts our ability to build productive capacity at home and … leaves all of us across the world more vulnerable to economic coercion.”

See Also: GameStop Up Triple Digits Premarket: Is 2021 Meme Stock Rally Back?

SPWR Price Action: SunPower shares were up 118% at $6.00 at the time of publication, according to Benzinga Pro.

Photo: Leopictures from Pixabay.