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The U.S. Commerce Department on Thursday announced preliminary antidumping duties on solar cells and panels imported from India, Indonesia and Laos, the latest in a string of tariffs imposed over a decade on solar imports from Asia.
With the decision, federal trade officials sided with domestic solar factory owners in finding that companies operating in the three countries dumped cheap goods in the U.S. market, undercutting American factories.
According to a fact sheet posted on the Commerce Department's website, the agency calculated preliminary duty rates, known as dumping margins, of 123.04% for imports from India, 35.17% for imports from Indonesia, and 22.46% for imports from Laos.
The three nations last year accounted for $4.5 billion in U.S. solar imports, about two-thirds of the total, according to government trade data.
The decision is a blow to producers in those nations who were supplying goods to the fast-growing U.S. market.
The Alliance for American Solar Manufacturing and Trade, which filed the petition, includes Tempe, Arizona-based First Solar (FSLR.O), Qcells, the solar division of Korea's Hanwha (000880.KS), and private companies Talon PV and Mission Solar.
The group has succeeded previously in winning tariffs on imports from countries in Southeast Asia including Malaysia, Cambodia, Vietnam and Thailand.
The Commerce Department said it would announce a final decision on or around July 13 for solar cells from India and Indonesia, and a decision for imports from Laos on or around September 9.
The agency also announced preliminary countervailing duties on the three countries in February.
