New Round of Tariffs Hope to Shine Some Light on U.S. Solar Production
In a move to protect domestic U.S. solar manufacturing, the Biden Administration’s Department of Commerce (DoC) announced in late November a new round of tariffs on solar panel imports from four ASEAN economies: Malaysia, Cambodia, Vietnam and Thailand. This policy is a follow-up to anti-dumping legislation passed earlier this year to prevent Chinese and other foreign-owned solar panel manufacturers, many of which have investment operations in Southeast Asia, from flooding the US market. With a final determination of new rates set for April 2025, these tariffs will be an answer to trade cases and petitions brought to the DoC and International Trade Commission (ITC) by U.S. producers in the sector.
The American Alliance for Solar Manufacturing Trade Committee consists of the most-affected US companies, who see this trade policy as helping to protect billions of dollars in investments in U.S. solar manufacturing operations. These changes pair with the Inflation Reduction Act, Biden’s keynote climate legislation, which aims to facilitate a more robust, domestic, clean energy equipment manufacturing sector at home and abroad.