Energize Weekly, February 28, 2018
Anticipating Trump administration tariffs on solar panels, a surge of Chinese imports hit the U.S. in the fourth quarter of 2017, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF).
Chinese imports for the quarter were 11 times higher than for the first nine months of the year. Imports for the quarter were a little more than $425 million, according to BNEF.
In January, President Donald Trump approved a four-year tariff on photovoltaic solar cells and modules, starting at 30 percent and stepping down 5 percent a year to 15 percent in 2021. The first 2.5 gigawatts of imports each year will be exempt from the tariff.
A trade complaint was file last spring by two financially failing domestic solar manufactures, Suniva Inc., based in Norcross, Ga., and Hillsboro, Ore.-based SolarWorld.
The two argued that cheap imports, primarily from Asia, had undermined the domestic industry. The case was filed under a portion of U.S. trade law, Section 201, in which the complainants did not need to show a violation of trade rules, but only harm to the domestic industry.
In October, the federal International Trade Commission (ITC) ruled that imports had hurt domestic solar panel makers. In November, the ITC issued a range of recommended tariffs and regulatory actions to Trump.
“The slow pace of D.C. bureaucracy has allowed the solar industry to insulate itself from the full impact of the tariffs,” Hugh Bromley, a BNEF solar analyst told Bloomberg News. “They won’t be as damaging as some in the industry have warned.”
Bromley estimated that there is about 5 gigawatts of solar cells and modules warehoused in the U.S., enough for six months of development activity.
Imports were also up from Mexico and Canada in the fourth quarter. On Feb. 22, three Canadian solar model makers and their U.S.-based distributor, Canadian Solar (USA) Inc., filed a complaint with the U.S. Court of International Trade in New York City.
The Canadian companies—Ontario-based Silfab Solar Inc., Heliene Inc. and Canadian Solar Solutions Inc.—contend the move to impose tariff restrictions on Canadian manufactures violates both the 1974 Trade Act and the North American Free Trade Agreement.
The Canadians are seeking an injunction stopping the application of the tariffs against them. “The Proclamation will inflict immediate, severe, and irreversible injuries on the Plaintiffs,” the Canadian complaint said.
In February, China joined South Korea, Singapore, Taiwan and the European Union in challenging the tariff at the World Trade Organization (WTO).
