The US Department of Commerce has initiated anti dumping and countervailing duty investigations on solar PV cell and module imports from India, Indonesia and Laos during calendar year 2024. The decision by the Commerce Department was made after the Alliance for American Solar Manufacturing and Trade filed a petition on July 17.
The countervailing duty (CVD) petitions by the industry body is concerning imports of crystalline silicon photovoltaic (PV) cells, whether or not assembled into modules (solar cells) from India, Indonesia and Laos. The petition was also accompanied by anti-dumping duty (AD) petitions on imports of solar cells from these three countries.
The petitioner has alleged that these three countries are providing countervailable subsidies to solar cell producers in India, Indonesia and Laos. Such imports are materially injuring, or threatening material injury to the domestic industry producing solar cells in the US.
“Commerce finds that the petitioner filed the petitions on behalf of the domestic industry because the petitioner is an interested party. Commerce also finds that the petitioner demonstrated sufficient industry support with respect to the initiation of the requested CVD investigations,” said the Commerce Department.
Since the petitions were filed on July 17, the period of investigation for India, Indonesia and Laos (CVD investigations) are January 1, 2024, through December 31, 2024, it added.
The US Department of Commerce held consultations with the Government of India on July 30 on the issue. The petitioner has claimed that imports (solar cells and modules) are benefiting from countervailable subsidies, and that such imports are causing, or threaten to cause, material injury to the US industry producing these ike products.
Another claim is that the subject imports from India, Indonesia and Laos individually exceed the negligibility threshold provided for under certain sections of the Tariff Act.
“Based on our review of the petitions, we find that there is sufficient information to initiate a CVD investigation on 84 programmes alleged by the petitioner,” said the Department with respect to India.
In the petitions, the petitioner identified 43 companies in India, 54 companies in Indonesia, and eight companies in Laos as producers and/or exporters of solar cells.
American market
According to CareEdge, India’s solar module exports to international markets have grown manifold over the FY23-FY24 period as high-efficiency modules from India have gained acceptance in these markets.
However, the US remains the most lucrative market for Indian exporters, with over 95 per cent share in FY24, rendering its trade policies paramount for India’s solar equipment trade, it added.
According to Rubix Data Sciences, the US continues to be a major export destination for India. The US export share of solar cells and modules increased from 66 per cent and 73 per cent in 2022 to over 90 per cent in FY24.
CareEdge pointed out that owing to China’s dumping of modules into the US market, the US government has imposed counter-vailing and anti-dumping duties on Chinese modules starting in 2012, followed by retrospective duties on South-East Asian nations based on anti-trade investigations.
However, the major game-changer has been sanctions under the Uyghur Forced Labour Prevention Act (UFLPA), which prohibits import of goods with origins from Xinjiang region of China due to forced labour issues, it added.
