The Biden administration is expected to restore US tariffs on imported solar panels from China and other countries, according to a Reuters exclusive.
According to “two sources familiar with the White House plans,” Reuters reports, South Korea’s Hanwha Qcells, investing $2.5 billion in US solar manufacturing, requested that the two-year-old trade exemption for imported solar panels be reversed.
Qcells formally petitioned the US trade representative on February 23 to reinstate the solar tariffs, and seven other US solar manufacturers, also investing billions combined, wrote letters of support.
Reuters’ sources said that no timeline has been decided for when the tariffs will be reinstated.
More than 40 US solar equipment factories planned since President Joe Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act in 2022 will benefit from the foreign solar goods tariff.
It was the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) that lobbied for the tariff exemption because US installers and developers rely on cheap imports to keep costs down. Reuters said:
In a statement, SEIA did not address the exemption directly but advocated for an increase in the amount of solar cells that can be imported tariff-free to help companies assembling American-made panels.
Read more: The US’s first-ever complete solar supply chain is coming
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