DOC Applies India, Indonesia, Laos Solar Dumping Tariff
The U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC) on Thursday announced preliminary anti-dumping tariffs on solar cells made in India, Laos and Indonesia.
The preliminary determination affirms allegations that manufacturers in those countries were selling cells (whether or not assembled into modules) into the U.S. below fair market value, as alleged by petitioners last summer. The petitioning group, the Alliance for American Solar Manufacturing and Trade, represents suppliers with manufacturing interests stateside, including First Solar and Qcells, among others.
The DOC set preliminary anti-dumping cash deposit rates of 123.04% for Indian cells, 22.46% for Laotian cells, and 35.17% for Indonesian cells.
In February, the DOC released its preliminary determination in the countervailing duties (CVD) portion of the investigation. Affirming allegations that suppliers in the named countries benefitted from “countervailable subsidies,” the agency applied a CVD cash deposit rate of 125.87% to Indian imports, 80.67% to Laotian imports, and between 85.99% and 143.30% to Indonesian imports.
Final determinations are scheduled for Sept. 3.
The DOC is analyzing the anti-market behavior allegations themselves. The International Trade Commission (ITC), which is investigating material injury to the domestic industry, will make its own final determination by Oct. 19. In the case of an affirmative finding, AD/CVD orders will be issued later that month, according to the petitioning group.
“Commerce’s affirmative preliminary subsidy and dumping determinations now confirm that producers in India, Indonesia, and Laos are benefiting from unfair government support and selling products into the U.S. market at unfairly low prices,” the petitioners said in a statement. “Together, these findings reinforce the Alliance’s position that strong enforcement is essential to preserving the momentum of America’s solar manufacturing resurgence.”
The current probe is the latest round in what has been referred to as “tariff whac-a-mole.” The U.S. group filed its petition last July, a few months after the previous investigation concluded with steep new rates applied to solar cells made by producers in Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia and Cambodia. Throughout the probe, procurement teams began to eye alternatives in Laos, Indonesia and India. And as talk of a new AD/CVD probe began to circulate, many Asian suppliers pivoted out of Southeast Asia, announcing manufacturing plans in the Middle East or North Africa.
Reporting by Colt Shaw, cshaw@opisnet.com; Editing by Jordan Godwin, jgodwin@opisnet.com