The U.S. Department of Commerce has reportedly delayed a preliminary decision on an anti-dumping and countervailing duties petition (AD/CVD) that rocked the industry earlier this year.
At the request of Auxin Solar, which filed the petition, Commerce pushed back its deadline for an initial ruling to November 28. The news was reported by the news site Politico.
Commerce is investigating whether solar modules imported from Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, and Cambodia are circumventing trade duties against China. These four countries now account for more than 80% of the solar modules imported into the U.S.
In June, President Joe Biden paused for two years any new tariffs on solar modules imported from four Southeast Asian following a pressure campaign from the U.S. solar industry.
In addition to the pause on new tariffs, Biden invoked the Defense Production Act to support domestic solar manufacturing. Biden invoked the Defense Production Act in April to boost mineral production for renewable energy and electric vehicles.
The investigation could have brought retroactive duties on modules imported after April 1, 2022, which brought the entire industry to a standstill "overnight," according to Kevin Smith, CEO of Lightsource bp Americas.
"Suppliers aren't going to take the risk of 50-250% tariffs, and owners/developers can't take that risk, either," Smith said. "You can't build a 100 MW, $100 million project with $50 million worth of panel supply, and then six months or a year later, they show up and say, oh, you owe us another $100 million for tariffs."
The Factor This! podcast broke down all angles of the Auxin Solar tariff petition in a four-part series, which included an exclusive interview with Auxin Solar CEO Mamun Rashid. Subscribe today wherever you get your podcasts.
Solar industry supply chain experts estimate rebuilding the U.S. manufacturing base to meet domestic demand could take two to three years.
The Inflation Reduction Act—and its $369 billion for clean energy and climate change— will help.
Baked into the Inflation Reduction Act are provisions of the Solar Energy Manufacturing for America Act, which incentivizes U.S. production throughout the solar value chain. The incentives would provide new certainty for domestic solar manufacturers and developers, who seek a 'Made in America' product that is difficult to source.
Elements include:
- 11 cents/watt for integrated modules
- 7 c/w for non-integrated solar modules
- 4 c/w for cells
- $12/sq. m. of wafer
- $3/kg of polysilicon
- 40 c/sq. m. of polymeric backsheet
Auxin Solar CEO Mamun Rashid previously told Renewable Energy World that he was supportive of the provisions within the SEMA Act during an episode of the Factor This! podcast.
An attorney representing Rashid and Auxin did not respond to requests for comment on the reported delay by Commerce in the tariff petition case.
