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The US Division of Commerce decided that 5 Chinese language photo voltaic firms have been dodging US duties. Right here’s why that would impede the expansion of US photo voltaic.
The Commerce photo voltaic investigation, defined
As Electrek reported in Might 2022, the Division of Commerce (DOC) launched an investigation of whether or not Southeast Asian photo voltaic cell producers are utilizing elements made in China that might usually be topic to a tariff.
The DOC has now concluded its investigation and introduced on Friday that 5 out of eight Chinese language photo voltaic firms it’s been probing are “delivery their photo voltaic merchandise by means of Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand, and/or Vietnam for minor processing in an try and keep away from paying antidumping and countervailing duties.”
The DOC recognized the 5 Chinese language firms that tried to dodge US duties by processing in Southeast Asia as:
- BYD Hong Kong, in Cambodia
- Canadian Photo voltaic, in Thailand
- Trina, in Thailand
- Vina Photo voltaic, in Vietnam
- New East Photo voltaic, in Cambodia
Which means that producers’ merchandise can be topic to extra import duties in the event that they go towards Obama-era photo voltaic tariffs.
The DOC famous {that a} ban isn’t going to be carried out on merchandise from Cambodia, Thailand, and Vietnam:
This doesn’t represent a ban on imports from these international locations. Firms in these international locations can be permitted to certify that they aren’t circumventing the [antidumping and countervailing duties] orders, through which case the circumvention findings is not going to apply.
The affect of the DOC’s ruling
Nearly all of the photo voltaic business, in addition to President Joe Biden, strongly opposes this ruling due to potential damaging impacts comparable to increased prices, extra photo voltaic provide chain snarls, and US job losses.
A report by Wooden Mackenzie discovered that the circumvention petitions may remove 16 gigawatts of panels from the US provide chain.
So in June 2022, Biden waived tariffs for twenty-four months on photo voltaic panels made in Southeast Asia in response to the investigation. He additionally invoked the Protection Manufacturing Act to spur on US photo voltaic panel and different clear power manufacturing. That approach, home manufacturing may accelerated with out impacting the DOC investigation.
The US photo voltaic business depends on imported photo voltaic panels to satisfy rising demand whereas the US establishes a home provide of photo voltaic parts. Practically 75% of photo voltaic panels at the moment imported to the US come from Southeast Asia.
Abigail Ross Hopper, president and CEO of the Photo voltaic Vitality Industries Affiliation (SEIA), mentioned:
America is experiencing a $20 billion photo voltaic manufacturing renaissance due to insurance policies within the Inflation Discount Act that incentivize personal funding on this nation. Nevertheless, it would take not less than 3-5 years to ramp up home photo voltaic manufacturing capability and the worldwide provide chain can be important within the brief time period. This case will simply make it tougher for American companies to maintain deploying, financing, and putting in photo voltaic energy.
Greater than 263,000 Individuals depend on their photo voltaic and storage job to feed their household and pay the payments, and this case unnecessarily places their livelihood at threat.
Biden’s waiver expires in June 2024, and that’s when the evaluation of duties will start. We at Electrek will proceed to look at this DOC ruling and its affect on the photo voltaic business.
Picture: First Photo voltaic Desert Daylight Photo voltaic Farm/US Division of the Inside
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