US trade officials have finalized significant tariffs on most solar cells imported from Southeast Asia, marking a crucial advancement in concluding a year-long trade case in which American manufacturers claimed Chinese firms were saturating the market with low-priced goods.
The complaint was filed last year by Korea’s Hanwha Qcells, Arizona-based First Solar Inc., and several smaller companies, aiming to safeguard extensive investments in US solar manufacturing.
The American Alliance for Solar Manufacturing Trade Committee, representing the complainants, alleged that major Chinese solar panel producers with facilities in Malaysia, Cambodia, Thailand, and Vietnam were selling panels at prices below production costs and receiving unfair subsidies, thereby undercutting American products.
The tariffs, disclosed on Monday, differ significantly among companies and countries but are generally higher than the preliminary duties set last year.
For instance, combined anti-dumping and countervailing duties for Jinko Solar’s Malaysian products stood at 41.56%, while Trina Solar’s operations in Thailand faced a staggering 375.19% tariff.
Cambodian products are subject to tariffs exceeding 3,500% due to the producers’ decision not to participate in the US investigation.
“These are very strong results,” stated Tim Brightbill, a lawyer representing the US manufacturing group, during a press conference.
“We are confident that these measures will address the unfair trade practices of the Chinese-owned companies in these four countries, which have been harming the US solar manufacturing industry for far too long.”
Last year, these countries supplied solar products worth over $10 billion to the US, comprising the bulk of domestic solar supplies and leading to significant changes in global solar trade dynamics.
This year, imports from these four targeted countries have drastically decreased compared to last year, while imports from countries like Laos and Indonesia have increased.
However, the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) has criticized the tariffs, arguing that they would disadvantage US solar producers by raising prices on imported cells, which American factories use to assemble panels.
This increase in domestic facilities has been supported by a new subsidy for clean energy manufacturing introduced in 2022.
The tariffs will be finalized after the International Trade Commission votes in June to determine if the industry suffered material harm from the dumped and subsidized imports.
