Dumping allegations: US photo voltaic panel producers need tariffs on India, Indonesia & Laos imports; purpose to guard billions of {dollars} of funding
A coalition of main US photo voltaic panel producers has filed a proper petition urging the US commerce division to impose tariffs on photo voltaic imports from India, Indonesia, and Laos.The group alleges that producers in these international locations are flooding the American market with artificially low-priced photo voltaic panels, harming the home photo voltaic manufacturing business.Based on a Reuters report, the petition, submitted on Thursday by the Alliance for American Photo voltaic Manufacturing and Commerce, contains main business gamers reminiscent of First Photo voltaic, Qcells (Hanwha’s photo voltaic division), Talon PV, and Mission Photo voltaic. The alliance claims corporations within the three international locations are promoting photo voltaic merchandise beneath manufacturing prices and are benefiting from unfair authorities subsidies.Based on the petitioners, Chinese language-owned producers have shifted operations to Indonesia and Laos to bypass present US tariffs on imports from different Southeast Asian international locations. Indian producers are additionally accused of dumping low-cost panels into the US market.The group highlighted a dramatic rise in photo voltaic imports from India, Indonesia, and Laos — leaping from $289 million in 2022 to $1.6 billion in 2023. The surge has raised considerations amongst US photo voltaic producers in regards to the influence on latest investments geared toward boosting home photo voltaic manufacturing.“We now have all the time mentioned, vigorous enforcement of our commerce legal guidelines is vital to the success of this business,” mentioned Tim Brightbill, lead lawyer for the petitioners.
US photo voltaic manufacturing and inflation discount act
Whereas nearly all of photo voltaic panels put in within the US are nonetheless imported, American manufacturing capability has expanded considerably because the passage of the Inflation Discount Act (IRA) in 2022. The regulation offers tax credit to spice up home clear power manufacturing and scale back dependence on Chinese language-made photo voltaic panels.The US now has round 50 gigawatts of photo voltaic panel manufacturing capability, up from 7 GW in 2020. Nevertheless, demand continues to outpace provide, with installations anticipated to achieve almost 43 GW yearly by 2030, in keeping with the Photo voltaic Power Industries Affiliation (SEIA).
Subsequent steps: Commerce division evaluate
The US division of commerce has 20 days to resolve whether or not to launch an investigation into the alleged dumping and subsidy practices. If it proceeds, the case might result in new tariffs inside a yr, relying on the result of the investigation.
