US manufacturers are seeking retroactive tariffs on imports from Vietnam and Thailand, claiming that cell imports have increased by 39% and 17% since April, following the Alliance issued an antidumping and countervailing duty (AD/CVD) petition for Southeast Asian (SEA) solar cells to the US Department of the Department of Commerce (DOC). The petition alleges that Chinese solar manufacturers in the region are “dumping” product in the US and circumventing US trade restrictions on China. If successful, these allegations would likely impose tariffs retroactively on imports that arrived in the country within 90 days before a preliminary determination was reached by the US International Trade Commission (ITC). Industry analyst Clean Energy Associates predicts that a successful finding could cause a cell supply bottleneck in the U.S. and raise the prices of both US-made and imported solar modules by up to US$0.15/watt. The Alliance, which includes Convalt Energy, Mission Solar, and Swift Solar, also alleges that Vietnam, Thailand and Malaysia have increased their solar panel exports following the petitions filed by the Alliance to avoid potential duties.
Solar Dominates US Energy Capacity Growth
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has published data showing that solar accounted for over 75% of US electrical generating
