Prahaar Samachar/22 April 2025 । The US Commerce Department wants to levy duties of up to 3,521% on solar panel imports from four South East Asian countries. It follows an inquiry that began a year ago, when several large solar equipment manufacturers petitioned then-President Joe Biden’s government to defend their US operations. The planned taxes – targeting firms in Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia and Vietnam – are in reaction to charges of subsidies from China and the dumping of unjustly inexpensive items in the US market. The International Trade Commission, a different US government body, is scheduled to make a final ruling on the new tariffs in June.
These tariffs, sometimes referred to as countervailing and anti-dumping levies, differ across businesses and the nations where their goods are produced. Due to what was perceived as a lack of cooperation with the Commerce Department’s inquiry, certain exporters of solar equipment in Cambodia are subject to the highest taxes, which total 3,521%. The Chinese producer Jinko Solar’s Malaysian products had some of the lowest levies, at slightly over 41 percent. Trina Solar, another Chinese company, is subject to 375% duties on the goods it produces in Thailand.
Many Chinese companies have shifted their operations to South East Asia in recent years in an attempt to evade tariffs that have been in place since the beginning of US President Donald Trump’s first term.
The American Alliance for Solar Manufacturing Trade Committee, a group of manufacturers, praised the US Commerce Department’s conclusions and urged the US government to begin the inquiry. Tim Brightbill, the Alliance’s senior attorney, stated, “This is a decisive victory for American manufacturing and confirms what we’ve long known: that Chinese-headquartered solar companies have been cheating the system.”
According to data from the US Census Bureau, America bought about $12 billion (£8.9 billion) worth of solar equipment from the four nations in 2023.
The proposed tariffs might result in additional expenses for companies and customers who have profited from the availability of less expensive solar goods, even if they are probably going to assist US solar panel producers. The charges would be applied in addition to other duties that the Trump administration has already implemented. Days after Chinese President Xi Jinping finished a trip of Vietnam, Malaysia, and Cambodia, the proposed tariffs were revealed. The purpose of the visit was to strengthen relations with the area and persuade those countries to oppose what he saw as “unilateral bullying” by the United States.
Up to 145% in tariffs have been levied by Trump on Chinese goods thus far. The US has now imposed a 10% blanket tax on other nations through July. Last week, his government stated that the duties on certain Chinese items might reach 245% when the additional tariffs are combined with the current ones. China has responded by vowing to “fight to the end” and imposing a 125% levy on US goods.
Source: BBC News
