WASHINGTON: The U.S. Department of Commerce is set to issue a preliminary ruling on Monday on whether to impose countervailing (anti-subsidy) duties on solar cells and panels imported from India, Indonesia and Laos.
The decision marks the first of two key determinations in an ongoing trade case filed by a coalition representing part of the domestic U.S. solar manufacturing industry. A final ruling is expected later this year.
The Commerce Department’s countervailing duty decision will assess whether companies operating in the three countries benefited from unfair government subsidies that allegedly allowed them to undercut American manufacturers. A separate determination due next month will examine whether those firms exported solar products to the United States at prices below their cost of production — a practice known as dumping.
The petition was filed in July by the Alliance for American Solar Manufacturing and Trade, whose members include South Korea’s Hanwha Qcells and Arizona-based First Solar. The group argues that the imports threaten billions of dollars in recent investments in U.S.-based solar manufacturing facilities.
According to the complaint, several Chinese-linked manufacturers shifted production to Indonesia and Laos after earlier U.S. tariffs targeted solar imports from other Southeast Asian nations. The petition also alleges that Indian-headquartered companies have been dumping low-cost solar products into the U.S. market.
The alliance has previously succeeded in securing tariffs on solar imports from countries including Malaysia, Cambodia, Vietnam and Thailand, as part of broader efforts to shield the domestic solar manufacturing sector from what it describes as unfair trade practices.
By Reuters
