US solar makers make filing over import spikes from Vietnam, Thailand

A coalition of US solar manufacturers have filed critical circumstances allegations with the US Department of Commerce concerning increased solar imports from Vietnam and Thailand.

The American Alliance for Solar Manufacturing Trade Committee, which includes Convalt, First Solar, Meyer Burger, Mission Solar, Qcells, REC Silicon and Swift Solar, made the submission on Thursday through law firm Wiley Rein LLP, the latter said.

The alliance filed antidumping and countervailing duty petitions in April and in June the US International Trade Commission (ITC) voted to continue investigations on solar imports from Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam.

“When we submitted our petitions a few months ago, several China-based companies operating in Thailand and Vietnam appear to have actively accelerated their US solar exports, likely to evade impending duties. We were therefore compelled to file these critical circumstances allegations in response to these new surges of imports,” said Tim Brightbill, co-chair of Wiley’s International Trade Practice and lead counsel to the petitioners.

In case of a critical circumstances finding, duties can be imposed retroactively on goods imported up to 90 days before the preliminary determinations.

Preliminary determinations are due in late September 2024 for countervailing duties and late November 2024 for antidumping duties, with final determinations expected in the spring of 2025, the law firm said.

It highlighted that monthly imports from Vietnam surged to a record of over 2.5 GW in June 2024, and averaged around 2.3 GW between April 2024 and June 2024, compared to an average of below 1.5 GW in the preceding six months.

Meanwhile, US President Biden this week issued a proclamation to increase the Section 201 tariff rate quota for imported solar cells to 12.5 GW from 5 GW annually.

The Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) welcomed the decision. Its president and chief executive Abigail Ross Hopper said the move “provides an important bridge for module producers to access the supply they need while the United States continues to progress on solar cell manufacturing.”

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