US to expand solar panel tariffs after probe finds Chinese evasion
PHOTO: AFP
The United States will impose new duties on imports from some major Chinese solar panel makers after a months-long investigation found they were trying to dodge tariffs by finishing their products in Southeast Asian countries, trade officials said on Friday.
The preliminary decision was bad news for US solar project developers that rely on cheap imports to fuel their growth, but fell short of the industry’s worst fears that Washington would impose new tariffs to cover all solar shipments from the region, instead of just those from specific companies.
US President Joe Biden has set a goal to decarbonise the nation’s power sector – the source of around a quarter of national greenhouse gas emissions – by 2035, something that will require rapid deployment of new solar, wind and other clean energy projects. The US Commerce Department probe found that units of BYD Co Ltd, Trina Solar Co Ltd, Longi Green Energy Technology Co Ltd and Canadian Solar Inc were circumventing existing tariffs on Chinese solar cells and panels that have been in place for a decade.
If finalised next year, the determination means those companies will be subject to duties on the products they make in Malaysia, Cambodia, Thailand and Vietnam – countries that now account for about 80% of US panel supplies.
Those companies and others will face the same duty rates the United States already assessed on their Chinese-made products, officials said, noting that most of those rates are below 35%. The duties will not kick in until June of 2024 thanks to a two-year waiver from Biden earlier this year.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 4th, 2022.
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