US Court Exempts Tariffs On Imported Bifacial PV Panels

• A US court has reportedly temporarily pulled back safeguard duty imposition on bifacial solar panels produced outside the country
• It won't be re-imposed till November 21, 2019 and may be extended temporarily, as per a GTM article
• The court took this decision while acting on an Invenergy petition filed against the imposition of the tariffs by the US government

US President Donald Trump led administration has suffered a set back to its decision to impose tariffs also on imported bifacial solar panels as a US court has shelved the implementation of the government decision, according to Greentech Media (GTM). The report claims the court took this decision basis a petition filed by US renewable energy developer Invenergy.

Having escaped safeguard duty tariffs under Section 201 imposed by the US government on overseas produced solar products, bifacial modules were brought under its ambit in October 2019 by the US Trade Representative (USTR) and came into effect from October 28, 2019 (see Bifacial Solar Panels Lose Protection From Section 201).

As per GTM, the tariffs will not come into force till at least November 21, 2019 or 'until a judge rules on Invenergy's request for a permanent injunction' and that the temporary order may also be extended.

While the decision of the court has cheered project developers like Invenergy, it is the manufacturers with local factories that wouldn't be too happy with the turnaround. GTM points out at local American company First Solar and South Korean Hanwha Q Cells (see First Solar: 1.9 GW Series 6 Annual Production Capacity). In February 2019 China's JinkoSolar too launched its local US fab with 400 MW solar module production capacity in Jacksonville, Florida (see JinkoSolar's 400 MW US Module Fab Open).

US Court Exempts Tariffs On Imported Bifacial PV Panels