US imposed preliminary countervailing duties between 80.67% and 143.3%
Manufacturers, including Qcells and First Solar say subsidies undercut billions in U.S. factory investments
Tariffs impact $4.5 bln in imports, likely to disrupt Asian-dominated U.S. solar trade
Adds effort to reach companies, background, byline
By Nichola Groom
Feb 24 (Reuters) - The U.S. Commerce Department on Tuesday announced countervailing duties on solar cells and panels imported by companies in India, Indonesia and Laos in an effort to counteract subsidies supporting the Asian industries.
With the decision, U.S. trade officials sided with domestic solar factory owners in finding that companies operating in the three countries received government subsidies that make American products uncompetitive. It is the latest in a string of duties imposed over a decade on cheap solar imports from Asia, which are primarily made by Chinese companies.
According to a fact sheet posted on the Commerce Department's website, the agency calculated general subsidy rates of 125.87% for imports from India, 104.38% for imports from Indonesia, and 80.67% for imports from Laos.
The three nations last year accounted for $4.5 billion in solar imports, about two-thirds of the 2025 total, according to government trade data. U.S. tariffs have a track record of disrupting global solar trade. Imports from Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand and Cambodia plummeted due to a trade case that resulted in steep tariffs finalized last year on imports from those nations, which had dominated the U.S. market.
The announcement is the first of two expected by the agency in the coming weeks in a trade case brought last year by a group representing a portion of the small U.S. solar manufacturing sector. The Commerce Department is set to make a separate decision next month on whether companies from the three nations flooded the U.S. market at prices below their cost of production.
The petitioning group, the Alliance for American Solar Manufacturing and Trade, includes South Korea's Hanwha Qcells 000880.KS, Arizona-based First Solar FSLR.O and San Antonio-based Mission Solar, which is owned by Korea's OCI Holdings 010060.KS. The producers are seeking to protect billions of dollars in investments in U.S. factories.
Tim Brightbill, lead attorney for the Alliance, hailed the move as "an important step toward restoring fair competition."
"American manufacturers are investing billions of dollars to rebuild domestic capacity and create good-paying jobs. Those investments cannot succeed if unfairly traded imports are allowed to distort the market," he said in a statement.
In addition to the general rates, the Commerce Department calculated individual rates for 125.87% for Mundra Solar in India, 143.3% for PT Blue Sky Solar and 85.99% for PT REC Solar Energy in Indonesia, and 80.67% for both Solarspace Technology Sole Co and Vietnam Sunergy Joint Stock Company in Laos.
Matthew Nicely, an attorney for Solarspace, which is based in China, said the company was disappointed.
"This rate does not reflect the company's actual experience or even a realistic analogue," Nicely said in an email.
The other companies were not immediately available for comment through their U.S. attorneys.
A final determination in the countervailing investigation is expected in July, Commerce said.
(Reporting by Nichola Groom; Editing by Alison Williams and Aurora Ellis)
((nichola.groom@thomsonreuters.com;))
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