US finalises levies on India solar cell imports

The United States has finalized anti-dumping and countervailing duties on solar cell and panel imports from India, Indonesia, and Laos. The Department of Commerce announced its final affirmations in the investigations of crystalline silicon photovoltaic cells from these countries. The US has imposed duty margins of 123.04 percent on Indian producers, 94.36 percent on Indonesian producers, and 65.43 percent on producers from Laos.

Indonesian producers face countervailing duty rates between 73.2 percent and 173.7 percent, while Laos producers face rates between 82.03 percent and 153.67 percent. The action follows a petition by The Alliance for American Solar Manufacturing and Trade, alleging unfair government subsidies and harming American industry. The USITC will now determine if these subsidized imports harmed the US industry and make a final injury determination within 45 days.

If affirmative, the Department of Commerce will issue orders by November 2 based on the rates from Friday's findings. If negative, the investigation will be terminated. The Alliance for American Solar Manufacturing and Trade stated that these producers and exporters have been dumping solar products into the US market at unfairly low prices, benefiting from countervailable subsidies and causing material injury to the domestic solar manufacturing industry.