US Solar Imports From Cambodia Hit Hardest With Final AD/CVD Duties

The US Department of Commerce (DOC) has released the final determinations in antidumping duty (AD) and countervailing duty (CVD) on crystalline solar cells, whether or not assembled into modules, from the 4 Southeast Asian nations of Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam.  

The duties are significantly higher than the preliminary rates proposed by the DOC in October 2024, going beyond even 3,000% for companies exporting to the US from Cambodia (see Tier I PV Makers Largely Unscathed By US DOC’s Preliminary CVD Rates). 

“In the CVD investigations involving Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam, Commerce found that companies in each country were receiving subsidies from the Government of China. These are among the first CVD investigations wherein Commerce has made an affirmative finding that companies received transnational subsidies,” stated the DOC. 

The 4 Southeast Asian nations accounted for $11.9 billion in annual solar cell imports to the US market in 2023. 

The following are the final AD and CVD tariff rates proposed by the DOC covering the Cash Deposit Rate adjusted for Subsidy Offset for AD, while the comprehensive list with weighted-average dumping margin is available on the ITA’s website: 

If implemented, these tariffs will pinch US developers, as these will be over and above the tariffs that the US government recently announced on all imports by its trading partners, calling these reciprocal tariffs (see Tariff War To Impact US Solar Industry Supply Chain). 

The petitioner of the AD/CVD investigation, the American Alliance for Solar Manufacturing Trade Committee (AASMTC), has welcomed the final duty announcement. A coalition of US solar manufacturers comprising Convalt Energy, First Solar, Meyer Burger, Mission Solar, Qcells, REC Silicon, Swift Solar, and Talon PV, AASMTC filed the petition to investigate Chinese companies dumping their cheaper priced solar products into the US in April 2024 (see US Solar PV Manufacturers Launch AD/CVD Petitions). 

The alliance says that these final determinations confirm that producers and exporters from these nations have been dumping solar products into the US market at unfairly low prices. They have benefited from countervailable subsidies, causing material injury to the domestic solar manufacturing industry in the US. 

“This is a decisive victory for American manufacturing and confirms what we’ve long known: that Chinese-headquartered solar companies have been cheating the system, undercutting U.S. companies, and costing American workers their livelihoods,” said the Co-Chair of Wiley’s International Trade Practice and Lead Counsel to the Alliance, Tim Brightbill.  

These duty rates will come into effect after the US International Trade Commission (USITC) issues the final injury determination. Once the US agency affirms that the domestic industry has been materially injured or threatened by these imports, the DOC will issue AD/CVD orders to be imposed, a decision that’s expected in June 2025. 

When the AASMTC filed its petition in 2024, the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), American Clean Power Association (ACP), Advanced Energy United (United), and American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE) issued a joint statement saying that it creates market uncertainty in the US solar industry. It poses a ‘potential threat’ to the domestic solar supply chain.  

At the time of publication, there was no official statement released by these associations to the DOC’s final determinations. 

Meanwhile, Roth’s Managing Director and Senior Research Analyst Philip Shen points out, “We believe non-SEA AD/CVD countries' cell and module volume has likely been ramping up for quite some time. That said, we expect the next AD/CVD case for India, Indonesia, and Laos to be initiated by the end of Q2'25.”