Sweeping 3,500% tariffs finalized in US solar trade war with Southeast Asia
U.S. trade officials finalized steep tariff levels on most solar cells from Southeast Asia, a key step toward wrapping up a year-old trade case in which American manufacturers accused Chinese companies of flooding the market with unfairly cheap goods.
The case was brought last year by Korea’s Hanwha Qcells 000880.KS, Arizona-based First Solar Inc. FSLR.O and several smaller producers seeking to protect billions of dollars in investments in U.S. solar manufacturing.
The petitioner group, the American Alliance for Solar Manufacturing Trade Committee, accused big Chinese solar panel makers with factories in Malaysia, Cambodia, Thailand and Vietnam of shipping panels priced below their cost of production and of receiving unfair subsidies that make American goods uncompetitive.
The tariffs unveiled on Monday vary widely depending on the company and country, but were broadly higher than the preliminary duties announced late last year.