The United States on Monday announced plans to impose tariffs as high as 3,521 percent on solar panels imported from Southeast Asia, targeting what it described as unfair Chinese subsidies and dumping practices in the global solar market.
The proposed duties apply to manufacturers operating in Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam and must still be approved by the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC), which is expected to make a final determination in June.
The announcement follows a year-long investigation prompted by complaints from several U.S. and foreign solar manufacturers, including Hanwha Qcells, First Solar, and Convalt Energy. The companies alleged that Chinese solar firms were using Southeast Asian countries to circumvent existing trade restrictions and benefit from unfair government support.
In a statement, the Commerce Department said the new tariffs are intended to counter “transnational subsidies”, marking one of the first times the U.S. has formally determined that companies received financial support from a foreign government (China) while operating outside that country.
“In the countervailing duty (CVD) investigations involving Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam, Commerce found that companies in each country were receiving subsidies from the Government of China,” the department said.
Among the companies named in the probe are Chinese solar giants Jinko Solar and Trina Solar. Products from Cambodia could face duties as high as 3,521 percent. Jinko Solar may be subject to tariffs of approximately 40 percent for exports from Malaysia and around 245 percent for shipments from Vietnam. Trina Solar could see duties of over 375 percent for Thai-made panels and more than 200 percent for those exported from Vietnam.
These tariffs, if enacted, would come in addition to a blanket 10 percent levy on imported solar products introduced under former President Donald Trump’s trade policies, which remain in effect.
The move reflects Washington’s ongoing efforts to counter trade imbalances and assert pressure on Beijing over industrial policy and global market dominance. In 2023, the U.S. imported $11.9 billion worth of solar cells from the four Southeast Asian nations targeted in this latest action, according to official trade data.
AFP
