The U.S. Department of Commerce $(DOC)$ has initiated investigations into solar cell imports from Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam under the antidumping and countervailing duty (AD/CVD), according to a statement by the International Trade Administration $(ITA)$ on May 20.
The investigation follows the April 24 petitions filed by the American Alliance for Solar Manufacturing Trade Committee, alleging these countries of engaging in 'illegal trade practices' that harm the U.S. solar industry.
U.S. solar manufacturers, including Convalt Energy, First Solar, Meyer Burger, Mission Solar, Qcells, REC Silicon, and Swift Solar, have previously submitted the petitions, highlighting concerns over Chinese solar manufacturers circumventing existing tariffs by relocating operations to Southeast Asia.
According to the ITA data, the alleged dumping rate for solar cells from Vietnam was the highest at 271.28%, followed by Cambodia at 125.37%. Meanwhile, dumping rates for Malaysia and Thailand were 81.22% and 70.36%, respectively.
The ITA is slated to release a preliminary finding of material injury within 45 days from the petition, which falls on June 10.
Trading activity for Southeast Asian modules has slowed in the forward months as buyers await policy clarity on AD/CVD, industry sources told OPIS.
A Southeast Asian producer has received requests from some customers to adjust their order terms for future purchases due to policy uncertainty.
The White House said late last week that it would soon end the tariff exemption for imported bifacial solar modules under Section 201, a move aimed at protecting U.S. solar manufacturers, OPIS previously reported.
OPIS assessed the U.S. delivered duty paid (DDP) PERC-module prices on May 14 at $0.25/wp for Q3 2024 and $0.24/wp for Q4 2024.
This content was created by Oil Price Information Service, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. OPIS is run independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.
--Reporting by Brian Ng, bng@opisnet.com; Editing by Lujia Wang, lwang@opisnet.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
May 20, 2024 06:19 ET (10:19 GMT)
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