U.S. Slaps Tariffs On Solar Firms Dodging China Duties

The United States has finalized a decision to impose import duties on solar panel makers who finished their products in Southeast Asian nations to avoid tariffs on Chinese-made goods, a senior Commerce Department official told Nichola Groom and Valerie Volcovici of Reuters.

Photo Insert: The Commerce probe found that units of Chinese companies BYD, Trina Solar, Vina Solar, and Canadian Solar were dodging US tariffs on Chinese solar cells and panels.

The decision, which largely mirrors a preliminary finding the agency made in December, was opposed by buyers of solar panels that rely on cheap products made overseas to make their projects competitive.

But it is good news for the small US solar manufacturing industry, which for years has struggled to compete with Chinese goods and is enjoying renewed investment due to subsidies in US President Joe Biden's landmark climate-change law.

The Commerce probe found that units of Chinese companies BYD, Trina Solar, Vina Solar, and Canadian Solar were dodging US tariffs on Chinese solar cells and panels by conducting minor processing to finish their products in Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam before shipping them to the US market.

Those countries account for about 80% of US panel supplies.

The agency will also impose duties on New East Solar because it refused to cooperate with an on-site audit of its operations in Cambodia, the official said. Other companies operating in those nations have the ability to pursue a certification process to show that they are not circumventing tariffs.

To become certified, solar cells and panels must contain non-Chinese wafers and three other key components.

The US has had anti-dumping duties in place for a decade on Chinese-made solar products after a Commerce probe found Chinese companies were receiving unfair government subsidies that kept their prices artificially low.

The companies and others will face the same rates the US already assesses on their Chinese-made products.

They will not kick in, however, until June 2024 thanks to a two-year waiver from Biden that was intended to ensure ample panel supplies while domestic manufacturing ramps up.

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