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Solar Tariff review
By John
Engel
Jul
11, 2022
U.S. settles solar tariff dispute
with Canada
Wright solar power plant used Nextracker's
NX Horizon-XTR solar tracker. Source: Nextracker
The U.S. will lift tariffs on solar
products imported from Canada, the countries announced.
As part of the agreement signed on July
8, the U.S. and Canada also committed to prohibiting imports of solar
products produce with forced labor.
The Trump administration implemented the
solar safeguard measure in 2018 to support domestic solar
manufacturing. While largely aimed at China, the safeguard extended to
all solar imports.
In February, a panel found that Canada's
inclusion in the solar safeguard was inconsistent with rules within
the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement.
That same month, President Biden
extended the solar safeguard measure for an additional four years,
but excluded bifacial cells and doubled the import quota on solar
cells to 5 GW. Biden also directed the United States trade
representative to conclude agreements with Canada and Mexico on trade
in solar products.
“Reaching this settlement with Canada
will promote greater deployment of solar energy in the United States
using products from one of our closest allies, and foster a more
resilient North American supply chain for clean energy products made
without forced labor," United States Trade Representative Katherine
Tai said in a statement.
September 14, 2021 - Joe Biden,
President of the United States, speaks during a visit the Flatirons
Campus of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Arvada,
Colorado. The President received insight into NREL’s long-term
research mission, vision, and critical objectives which directly align
with his decarbonization goals and national energy priorities.(Photo
by Werner Slocum / NREL).
Solar tariff timeline
2012: Obama administration implements anti-dumping and
countervailing duty rules based on Chinese solar manufacturers,
linking the AD/CVD to the origin of the cells, not the module. Cells
were offshored out of China, primarily to Thailand, while modules were
still produced in China with components subsidized by the Chinese
government.
2015: Obama administration adds follow-up AD/CVD against China and
AD against Taiwan to address the cell/module workaround. AD/CVD is
attached to the solar module's origin, regardless of where the cell is
produced.
2018: Trump administration establishes Section 201 safeguard and
quota. Tariff rate is implemented on all solar module imports,
regardless of origin, with a duty-free importation of 2.5 GW of cells
for domestic module manufacturing.
2022: Biden administration extends Trump-era Section 201
safeguards for another four years, but expands the cell import quota
to 5 GW and exempts bifacial solar modules.
In May 2017, a group of U.S. solar panel
manufacturers filed what is known as a Section 201 safeguard petition
with the International
Trade Commission (ITC). The petition sought global tariffs in
response to what it claimed were unfair trade practices, particularly
by China. The ITC unanimously found that the imports had injured U.S.
solar panel producers. In January 2018, President Trump concurred with
the ITC recommendation to impose a four-year “safeguard measure” on
foreign solar panels. The tariffs began at 30% but declined over time
to 15%.
Last fall, the ITC again unanimously recommended that the tariffs be
extended for another four years.
Martin Pochtaruk, president of solar
module manufacturer Heliene, which has manufacturing facilities in
both Canada and the U.S., said the agreement between the U.S. and
Canada "stops the bleeding" for companies with operations in both
countries. Pochtaruk said that Heliene and Silfab, a North American
solar module manufacturer that has an operational agreement with
Heliene, have paid tens of millions of dollars in duties because of
the Section 201 safeguard.
"That money could have been used to build
manufacturing facilities and create even more jobs both companies have
already created in the US since then – this agreement reflects (once
again) how intertwined the US and Canadian supply chains are – in
solar as much as in the automotive industry," Pochatruk said in an
email to Renewable Energy World.
Pochtaruk was featured on
Episode 3 of the Factor This! solar podcast, which
focused on building out the U.S. solar supply chain in response to the
Auxin Solar tariff petition.
Green Play Ammonia™, Yielder® NFuel Energy.
Spokane, Washington. 99212
www.exactrix.com
509 995 1879 cell, Pacific.
exactrix@exactrix.com
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