3,500 percent solar tariff divides US industry

Politico

21-05-2025

There's a new solar tariff in town, and it's a biggie.
An independent federal agency has backed imposing levies as high as 3,521 percent on China-linked solar imports from four Southeast Asian countries, writes Christa Marshall. The International Trade Commission concluded unanimously that U.S. manufacturers have been 'materially injured' by imported solar cells and panels from Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam.
The commission's finding clears the way for the Commerce Department to issue the trade penalties.
The news is drawing mixed reactions from a solar industry already facing massive headwinds from the Trump administration's efforts to undermine Biden-era clean energy policies.
The Solar Energy Industries Association, the industry's leading trade group, said the decision would raise costs for manufacturers and project developers that still rely on foreign parts.
'Imposing additional tariffs on cell imports at this stage risks stalling progress and undermining the very industry they are meant to support,' said Abigail Ross Hopper, SEIA's president and CEO.
But several U.S. solar manufacturers, including industry leader First Solar, applauded the decision as a major win. They have long contended that China unfairly subsidizes companies in Southeast Asian countries to flood the U.S. market with cheaper solar components.
'This ruling is a step forward in addressing China's continuing efforts to undermine the U.S. manufacturing rebuilding effort,' Mike Carr with the Solar Energy Manufacturers for America Coalition told Christa.
Not so fast … Still, even domestic solar manufacturers say the new tariffs may amount to diddly squat if GOP lawmakers slash Biden-era benefits for the industry in their massive budget bill. The bill would weaken or ax provisions in Democrats' 2022 climate law that benefit the solar industry, including for domestic manufacturers.
'All the trade protections in the world won't make a difference if Congress backtracks on its commitments to reshore this critical industry,' Carr said.
Provisions in the climate law have helped domestic production of solar panels grow sixfold since 2023. Solar manufacturing jumped from less than $1 billion in annual investments in 2022 to nearly $6 billion last year, according to research firm Rhodium Group.
The Republican megabill that moved through the House Ways and Means Committee this month could imperil 300 solar and storage facilities and cut solar power generation equivalent to the annual electricity consumption of Pennsylvania by 2023, according to a SEIA analysis.
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