US set to impose steep tariffs on solar panel imports from Southeast Asia

The US International Trade Commission (ITC) determined on May 20 that domestic solar panel makers were materially harmed or threatened by a flood of cheap imports from four Southeast Asian nations, bringing the U.S. a step closer to imposing stiff duties on those goods.

The “yes” vote by the three-member ITC means the US Department of Commerce will issue orders to enforce countervailing and anti-dumping tariffs on solar products imported from Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam that the agency finalized last month.

The vote resolves a year-old trade case. The Commerce Department cannot impose tariffs unless the ITC finds that the domestic industry was harmed or threatened by overseas rivals receiving unfair subsidies and dumping products in the U.S. market.

The trade case was brought last year by South Korea’s Hanwha Qcells, the U.S.’s First Solar Inc, and several smaller producers seeking to protect billions of dollars in investments in U.S. solar manufacturing.

In 2022, former President Joe Biden’s signature climate change law, the Inflation Reduction Act, created a tax credit for clean energy manufacturing. More than 100 solar factories have been announced or expanded since then.

A top U.S. solar trade group, the Solar Energy Industries Association, said new tariffs would actually harm domestic producers by increasing costs for panel buyers.