2023-08-18 19:55:41
© Reuters. Solar panels at the University of California, USA 8/17/2022 REUTERS/Nathan Frandino/Archive
By Nichola Groom
The United States will finalize a decision on Friday to impose import tariffs on solar panel makers who have completed their products in Southeast Asian countries to avoid tariffs on Chinese-made products, according to a senior Department of Agriculture official. Business.
The decision, which largely reflects a preliminary finding made by the agency in December, has been contested by solar panel buyers who rely on cheap overseas-made products to make their projects competitive.
However, the decision is good news for the small US solar panel manufacturing industry, which has struggled to compete with Chinese products for years and is receiving renewed investment due to subsidies in the US president’s landmark climate change law, Joe Biden.
The Commerce Department investigation found that Chinese plants BYD, Trina Solar, Longi Green Energy and Canadian Solar were dodging US tariffs on Chinese solar cells and panels by conducting minor processing to finish their products in Cambodia, Malaysia, in Thailand and Vietnam before shipping them to the US market.
These countries account for about 80% of the US panel supply.
The agency will also impose tariffs on New East Solar because it refused to cooperate with an audit of its operations in Cambodia, the official said.
The companies and others will face the same tax rates that the United States already charges its Chinese-made products. But they won’t take effect until June 2024, thanks to a two-year waiver granted by Biden, which was intended to ensure ample supply of panels while domestic production ramps up.
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