US To Slap Up To 3,521% Tariffs On SE Asian Solar Imports – Especially You, Cambodia

world war fee Solar panels made in a number of Southeast Asian countries face massive new import duties into America, some as steep as 3,521 percent, after a US Department of Commerce probe apparently found the countries were being used as tariff-dodging proxies for Chinese state-subsidized manufacturers.

The Commerce Department argued Monday that solar cells imported from Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam have for years been sold below fair market value (a practice known as dumping), while also benefiting from subsidies provided by the Xi regime.

According to the findings of a yearlong investigation, these transnational subsidies allowed Chinese-backed firms to undercut US manufacturers by routing production through Southeast Asia. As a result, the department is preparing to impose steep anti-dumping and countervailing duties - tariffs meant to cancel out the effect of foreign government subsidies - on those imports, pending a final ruling from the US International Trade Commission.

"The Commerce Department is holding China accountable for its transnational subsidies through other countries that harm American industry," Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said. "Market-distorting, unfair trade practices against America have no place to hide."

Several Cambodian solar cell makers, namely Jintek Photovoltaic Technology, Hounen Solar, ISC Cambodia and Solar Long PV-Tech, have been hit with a combined tariff of 3,521.14 percent, made up of a 117.18 percent anti-dumping duty, and a 3,403.96 percent countervailing duty.

While Cambodia caught the worst of it, others aren't getting off lightly. Thailand's Sunshine Electrical Energy and Taihua New Energy are each facing duties of 972 percent. Malaysian outfit Baojia New Energy will face about 250 percent duties.

Across the board, duties range from just a few percent to several hundred, depending on the level of alleged dumping and subsidization.

The Commerce Department noted that the US International Trade Commission still has to issue its own ruling, due by June 2. If the ITC finds that US industry was harmed by the subsidized imports and dumping, Commerce will move forward with issuing final duty orders.

• White House confirms 245% tariff on some Chinese imports not a typo
• California sues President Tariff
• Team Trump readies national security card to justify taxing Americans for foreign chips
• Trump tariffs to make prices great – a gain

The original petition triggering the investigation was filed by the American Alliance for Solar Manufacturing Trade Committee, whose members include US-based solar manufacturers First Solar Inc, Hanwha Q CELLS USA, and Mission Solar Energy. First Solar shares have jumped on the news of the pending duties on foreign solar cell makers.

Whether US solar cell makers will have a reason to rejoice beyond the initial realization that foreign-manufactured cells will be harder to find - or prohibitively expensive - is unclear. Many of the components used to manufacture solar cells are produced overseas in places like China, where tariffs are still looming large and threatening the stability of supply chains. 

In other words, even if cheap Asian-made solar cells vanish, it's unlikely American-made alternatives will retain a low price point given Trump's trade war. ®

PS: Silicon Valley’s drone companies are addicted to Chinese components, Forbes reports.