Senators, House Reps Convince Commerce To Move Ahead On China Solar Investigation

A group of global solar companies dubbed the American Alliance for Solar Manufacturing Trade Committee, petitioned the ITC last month to investigate China solar company practices in Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam. The Alliance is comprised of Convalt Energy, First Solar, Hanwha-QCells, Meyer Burger, Mission Solar, REC Silicon, and Swift Solar.

Q Cells is investing in new solar cell manufacturing in Georgia.

Another company, called Silfab Solar, which is not part of the trade case, once argued against anti-dumping tariffs for Trina Solar, one of the four solar companies that were granted a two-year moratorium by the Biden administration in his now-defunct “solar emergency declaration” of 2022.  On May 20, Silfab said it received an award from the Department of Energy to invest in solar cells – something Silfab primarily imported from Chinese companies in Southeast Asia.

On Thursday, the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) didn’t even bother to lament the sunsetting of the Biden solar duties moratorium. Instead, they highlighted that American solar panel manufacturing capacity has increased by 71%. SEIA has spent much of the last several years in this fight arguing that tariffs would spell the end of the solar industry. 

But while solar panel capacity is booming, it is the solar cells and other items needed to make those solar panels that are almost fully reliant on the Chinese multinationals that have largely set up shop in Southeast Asia to avoid mainland China tariffs. Because of that dominance, China tends to be the price setter on solar. 

The U.S. has little chance of ever building a domestic solar cell industry without trade enforcement and limits to what can be imported.

In February, CPA chief economist Jeff Ferry warned that the dumping of solar goods caused by massive oversupply and the front-running of AD/CVD cases against Chinese companies would lead to a “solar apocalypse.” Companies here have been importing relentlessly to avoid future price changes due to AD/CVD cases.

Back then, the U.S. had an estimated 86 gigawatts of newly planned solar module (or solar panel) manufacturing capacity in the works but the roughly 30 gigawatts of imports threatened the need for all of that domestic output. The oversupply would lower prices further, which would thin or erase investment returns. 

Ferry said the steady flow this year of imported solar cells and full panels “will force many U.S. producers out of business,” which would put the Chinese-owned U.S. facilities in the strongest position among the companies manufacturing here.  

Of all the countries that have invested in the U.S. since the IRA passed, China stands out with the most solar companies. At least four solar companies have announced plans to invest in factories in the U.S., including market leaders JA Solar in Arizona and Longi in Ohio.