US to probe if Chinese firms are evading solar tariffs via Southeast Asian factories
- Manufacturers may be sending components to countries like Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia for assembly before shipping finished products to the US
- The investigation threatens to upend the American solar sector, which depends heavily on panels from Asia
The US is launching an investigation into whether Chinese solar-equipment manufacturers are evading tariffs by sending components to other Asian nations for assembly before shipping finished products to the US.
The US Commerce Department said in filings on Monday that it would open the probe requested by Auxin Solar Inc., a small California panel maker, marking the first formal step of an investigation that could span a year and culminate in expanded duties on the imports.
The investigation threatens to upend the US solar sector, which depends heavily on Asian panels. Companies that build solar farms warned that simply opening a probe will drive up prices and potentially expose importers to retroactive duties.
That could slow the growth of clean power in the US and undermine President Joe Biden’s goal of eliminating carbon dioxide emissions from the electricity sector by 2035.
“The Department of Commerce’s decision today signals that the Biden administration’s talk of supporting solar energy is empty rhetoric,” Heather Zichal, chief executive officer of the American Clean Power Association, said in an emailed statement.