WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Coalition for a Prosperous America (CPA) strongly supports the U.S. Department of Commerce’s final affirmative determinations in its antidumping (AD) and countervailing duty (CVD) investigations into solar cells and modules imported from Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam. The Department’s decision confirms what CPA has consistently warned: Chinese solar companies have been illegally circumventing U.S. trade laws through Southeast Asian shell operations, flooding the U.S. market with dumped and subsidized products directly harming the domestic solar manufacturing industry.
According to the final determination, some of the duty rates are staggering:
- Cambodia: Dumping margins up to 125.37%; CVD rates up to 3,403.96%
- Malaysia: Dumping margins up to 81.24%; CVD rates up to 168.80%
- Thailand: Dumping margins up to 202.90%; CVD rates up to 799.55%
- Vietnam: Dumping margins up to 271.28%; CVD rates up to 542.64%
“These duty rates are not just numbers—they are the price China must pay for systematically violating U.S. trade laws and crushing American solar manufacturing,” said Zach Mottl, Chairman of CPA. “The Chinese Communist Party’s strategy has always been clear: dominate the global solar supply chain through cheating, overcapacity, and state subsidies. This determination is a necessary step toward holding them accountable and reestablishing a strong, resilient U.S. solar manufacturing base.”
Earlier this year, CPA released its Landmark Solar Supply Chain Report detailing how, despite more than a decade of tariffs, the United States was on the verge of losing its domestic solar manufacturing base. The report found that Chinese companies had captured 39% of U.S.-based solar module capacity by 2023 and were still using Southeast Asian front operations to avoid U.S. trade remedies. The Biden administration’s moratorium led to the importation of over 63 gigawatts of panels in 2023 alone—50% more than total U.S. installations, flooding the market with underpriced, subsidized product that devastated domestic manufacturers.
CPA has long advocated for a stronger industrial policy to counter China’s solar overcapacity and predatory practices. A report from Horizon Advisory released last year exposed how Chinese companies were also exploiting U.S. Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) tax credits to continue their dominance—receiving billions in U.S. subsidies through assembly plants in the U.S. while still sourcing core components from China.
“Commerce’s final determination confirms what we’ve long known—the Chinese Communist Party has no intention of playing by the rules,” said Jon Toomey, President of CPA. “This is a coordinated strategy to flood the global market with subsidized, forced-labor-linked solar products and drive out American competition. China’s continued ability to exploit IRA tax credits—funded by American taxpayers—while expanding its grip on both the U.S. and global solar sectors is a direct threat to U.S. manufacturers, workers, and our energy security.”
An analysis by the CPA Economics Team warned that the U.S. solar industry is being threatened by China’s overcapacity and that China’s solar companies are surviving on CCP subsidies. Commerce’s preliminary affirmative determinations highlight the need to address harmful surges of subsidized solar imports from these countries.
In addition, CPA urges Congress and the Trump administration to:
- Exclude Foreign Entities of Concern (FEOCs): Prohibit FEOCs from being eligible for IRA tax credits and incentives.
- Strengthen Domestic Content Rules: Increase domestic manufacturing requirements for tax credit eligibility to ensure substantial U.S. production of solar panels, cells, and components.
- Global, Universal Tariffs: Impose universal tariffs and robustly enforce them on Chinese solar products to advance the policy goal of a robust, domestic manufacturing industry.
- Tighten UFLPA Enforcement: Aggressively enforce the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) to prevent products tainted by forced labor from entering U.S. markets and account for China’s efforts to workaround the legislation.
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