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26-04-2026
Bureau Report
NEW DELHI/ WASHINGTON: The US Commerce Department on Thursday announced preliminary antidumping duties on solar cells and panels imported from India, Indonesia and Laos, the latest in a string of tariffs imposed over a decade on solar imports from Asia.
With the decision, federal trade officials sided with domestic solar factory owners in finding that companies operating in the three countries dumped cheap goods in the US market.
According to a fact sheet posted on the Commerce Department’s website, the agency calculated preliminary duty rates, known as dumping margins, of 123.04% for imports from India, 35.17% for imports from Indonesia, and 22.46% for imports from Laos.
The three nations last year accounted for $4.5 billion in US solar imports, about two-thirds of the total, according to government trade data.
The decision is a blow to producers in those nations who were supplying goods to the fast-growing US market. The Alliance for American Solar Manufacturing and Trade, which filed the petition, includes Tempe, Arizona-based First Solar, Qcells, the solar division of Korea’s Hanwha and private companies Talon PV and Mission Solar.
“The preliminary determinations confirm that producers in these countries are dumping solar cells and modules into the US market at unfairly low prices, undercutting American-made products and distorting market competition at a pivotal moment for the domestic manufacturing sector,” the Alliance said in a statement.
The group has succeeded previously in winning tariffs on imports from countries in Southeast Asia including Malaysia, Cambodia, Vietnam and Thailand.
The Commerce Department said it would announce a final decision on or around July 13 for solar cells from India and Indonesia, and a decision for imports from Laos on or around September 9. The agency also announced preliminary countervailing duties on the three countries in February.
Last week, a group of US solar panel manufacturers asked the Commerce Department on Thursday to impose tariffs on imports from Indonesia, India and Laos, accusing companies there of dumping cheap goods in the market to undercut new American factories. The petition is the latest effort by the small US solar manufacturing industry to seek trade relief to protect billions of dollars of recent investment and compete with goods produced mainly by Chinese companies overseas. The Alliance for American Solar Manufacturing and Trade, which filed the petition, includes Tempe, Arizona-based First Solar, Qcells, the solar division of Korea’s Hanwha, and private companies Talon PV and Mission Solar.
The group has succeeded previously in winning tariffs on imports from countries in Southeast Asia including Malaysia, Cambodia, Vietnam and Thailand.
Those tariffs were finalized earlier this year.
The petition accuses companies of receiving unfair government subsidies and of selling their products below the cost of production in the United States.
It says Chinese-owned companies shifted production from nations that received US tariffs to Indonesia and Laos and also accuses Indian-headquartered manufacturers of dumping cheap goods in the United States. Imports from the three nations combined were $1.6 billion last year, up from $289 million in 2022, according to the petitioners.
“We have always said, vigorous enforcement of our trade laws is critical to the success of this industry,” Tim Brightbill, lead attorney for the petitioners, said in a statement.
