On August 29 local time, the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) unanimously voted to continue investigating solar cells and panels imported from India, Indonesia, and Laos, aiming to verify whether such products involve unfair trade practices. This decision stems from a petition filed by the “American Solar Manufacturing and Trade Alliance” in mid-July, which requested the initiation of anti-dumping and countervailing duty (AD/CVD) investigations.
The “American Solar Manufacturing and Trade Alliance,” a representative organization of U.S. domestic solar manufacturers, includes companies such as First Solar, Mission Solar, Hanwha Qcells, and Talon PV. The petition was submitted against the backdrop of a significant increase in solar product imports from India, Indonesia, and Laos following the imposition of anti-dumping and countervailing duties on solar imports from four Southeast Asian countries—Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam. U.S. manufacturers argue that global solar producers are likely relocating their production bases to these three countries to circumvent tariffs targeting Southeast Asian nations, and that the governments of these three countries are providing subsidies to support such industrial transfers.
In its initial petition, the alliance specifically highlighted the need to focus on manufacturers in Laos and Indonesia with majority Chinese ownership, as well as various solar enterprises in India. Additionally, the petitioners provided calculated dumping margins: Indonesia at 89.65%, Laos as high as 249.09%, and India at 213.96%.
On August 29, the U.S. International Trade Commission formally ruled that there is reasonable evidence indicating the U.S. domestic solar industry is suffering substantial harm due to imports of related products from India, Indonesia, and Laos. Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of Commerce is also conducting investigations to verify whether these imported products are unfairly priced or receiving government subsidies. According to the schedule, the U.S. Department of Commerce is expected to announce preliminary anti-dumping duties (AD) around December 24 and preliminary countervailing duties (CVD) around October 10.
If the investigation ultimately determines that solar products from these three countries involve unfair trade practices, it could have a significant impact on the global solar industry supply chain.
