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Bloomberg
Auxin Solar Inc is asking the US Commerce Department to investigate possible efforts to circumvent tariffs with the imports of equipment from Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia.
The company alleges the solar imports use parts or components from China, and that producers are assembling equipment in the Southeast Asian nations as a way of skirting duties, according to a filing made to the department in Washington, DC It follows the department’s decision in November not to investigate related allegations.
Tariffs on Chinese solar products were first imposed in 2012, while President Joe Biden’s administration last year banned solar equipment using raw materials originally from China-based Hoshine Silicon Industry Co. in an effort to confront alleged human-rights abuses in the Xinjiang region.
Biden’s measure has led to blocks on imports of solar modules from key global producers including Longi Green Energy Technology Co.
US renewable power advocates warned that expanded trade barriers threaten to slow the energy transition and solar installations inside the country, particularly new curbs on equipment produced in Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam. Those countries account for most solar imports by the US.
Chinese firms dominate manufacture of photovoltaic panels, which is a multi-step process often done in separate factories that can be located in different provinces or even countries. Several suppliers have opened plants in other nations in recent years for the last stage, assembling the solar modules.