The Commerce Department has determined that five southeast Asian companies circumvented tariffs on Chinese solar components, while the remaining three companies under investigation did not.
The department first announced its investigation last year, focusing on eight companies headquartered in Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam: BYD Hong Kong, New East Solar, Hanwha Q CELLS, Jinko Solar, Canadian Solar, Trina Solar, Boviet Solar and Vina Solar. The final determination, issued Friday, found that all but Hanwha Q CELLS, Jinko and Boviet engaged in tariff-dodging.
The final results reflect those of the preliminary report the Commerce Department released in December, with one exception: New East Solar was not found to have circumvented in the preliminary report, but during the investigation process, the company refused to cooperate and denied auditors access during the onsite investigation, a senior Commerce official said on a call with reporters.
“In line with our longstanding practice and U.S. law, we had to make an adverse inference and so we’re finding in the final results that New East Solar is circumventing because we could not verify the accuracy and reliability of our information,” the official said.
The investigation had been fiercely opposed by the U.S. solar industry and its allies in Congress, who have warned it would deal a major blow to the industry at a time when solar buildout is essential to achieving the Biden administration’s carbon-neutrality goals.
“Americans want abundant, reliable, and clean energy,” Abigail Ross Hopper, president and CEO of the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), said in a statement. “This decision moves the goalpost yet again for the solar and storage industry and will only undermine the progress of companies that are working hard to deliver American solar products.”
Amid the investigation, President Biden in 2022 suspended tariffs on solar panels from the four countries for two years.
A Congressional Review Act resolution that would have resumed the tariffs passed Congress in May, but Biden vetoed the resolution.
In keeping with that suspension, the Commerce official said, none of the duties will be collected until next June.
The Hill has reached out to the solar companies found to be circumventing for comment.
