- U.S. to impose tariffs on cheap solar imports.
- ITC finds harm from Southeast Asian manufacturers.
- Tariffs may raise costs, industry split on impact.
The recent decision by the US International Trade Commission (ITC) that domestic solar panel manufacturers were either materially harmed or threatened with material injuries by the inundation of cheaper imports from four Southeast Asian countries, moved the United States closer to the imposition of significant duties on those imported goods.
The ITC "yes" vote means the US Department of Commerce will issue orders to enforce the countervailing and anti-dumping tariffs that were finalized last month against solar products imported from Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam.
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The vote means the ITC has resolved the trade case after it being pending for a year. The Commerce Department is unable to impose any tariffs until the ITC makes a finding that the domestic industry was either harmed or threatened by foreign competitors benefitting from unfavorable subsidies and excessive dumping of products in the US market.
The trade case was initiated a year ago by South Korea's Hanwha Qcells, US solar administrator First Solar Inc., and a number of smaller producers, all to protect billions of dollars invested in US solar manufacturing.
Since the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act that created a tax credit for clean energy manufacturing, first propagated by Former President Joe Biden in 2022, more than 100 solar factories have either been announced or expanded.