Crystalline Silicone Photovoltaic Cells Quota Up by 150% to 12.5gw to Help Solar Panel Producers in US

· The tariff-rate quota on imported solar cells is being increased to12.5 gigawatts from 5 GW.

· US panel producers argue that domestic solar cell manufacturers are unable to meet demand, requiring them to rely on imports.

· The International Trade Commission issued a report that found the safeguard measure has resulted in positive adjustments from the domestic industry in light of increased actual and planned module production.

[ABS News Service/14.08.2024]

President Biden has announced he is more than doubling the volume of imported solar cells that are exempt from the current 14.25 percent import safeguard tariff, in a bid to help US panel producers that need imported components.

The tariff-rate quota on imported solar cells is being increased to12.5 gigawatts from 5 GW, according to a Presidential proclamation issued late Monday.

The previous Administration imposed the import safeguard tariffs under Section 201 to protect US solar manufacturers facing competition from low-priced imports from China and elsewhere in Asia.

The original import safeguard was set to expire after four years. The Biden Administration extended the safeguard for an additional four years and set a 5 GW tariff-rate quota.

US panel producers argue that domestic solar cell manufacturers are unable to meet demand, requiring them to rely on imports. Last September, US solar companies petitioned the government to modify the safeguard by either lifting the tariff on imported crystalline silicone photovoltaic cells or increasing the tariff-rate quota to 20 GW annually.

ITC Report

In February of this year, the International Trade Commission issued a report that found the safeguard measure has resulted in positive adjustments from the domestic industry in light of increased actual and planned module production; various announcements of planned domestic cell production and improvements in several of the domestic industry's financial, trade, and employment indicators.

Given the ITC report and the petition from the domestic industry, “I have determined that the domestic industry has been making and is continuing to make a positive adjustment to import competition, shown by increased actual and planned module production; various announcements of planned domestic cell production; and improvements in several of the domestic industry's financial, trade, and employment indicators,” President Biden said in the proclamation.

“Furthermore, I have determined that expected domestic module production and associated imports of CSPV cells have increased such that it is necessary to modify the action taken in Proclamation 9693, as extended by Proclamation 10339, by expanding the TRQ to unchanging within-quota quantities of 12.5 GW.”