U.S. Sets Heavy Anti-Dumping and Countervailing Duties on Solar Imports from India, Indonesia and Laos

The U.S. Commerce Department announced final anti-dumping and countervailing duties on solar cells and panels imported from India, Indonesia and Laos, concluding that these exporters benefit from government subsidies and sell at artificially low prices. Anti-dumping margins were set at 123.04% for Indian firms, 94.36% for Indonesian firms and 65.43% for Lao firms, while countervailing duties range from 126.09% for India to 73.2%-173.7% for Indonesia and 82.03%-153.67% for Laos.

The investigation was initiated by the Alliance for American Solar Manufacturing and Trade, whose members include First Solar, Hanwha Qcells and Mission Solar Energy, who praised the duties as essential for protecting U.S. jobs. The U.S. International Trade Commission will issue a final injury determination on October 14; a positive finding would trigger the Commerce Department to issue formal duty orders in November. This action follows a long-standing U.S. effort to curb subsidized solar imports, first targeting China in 2012, which led Chinese manufacturers to relocate production to other Asian nations.