The Trump administration says bifacial solar panels will be subject to import tariffs after all, reversing an earlier exemption because it threatened efforts to protect domestic manufacturing, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said.
The USTR said in June that bifacial solar panels, which can absorb sunlight on both their front and back, would not be subject to "safeguard" tariffs that President Donald Trump set in early 2018. That decision was welcomed by some for pushing the industry to adopt better technology. But others, including Arizona-headquartered First Solar Inc., which is building a factory in Ohio, said the exemption would unleash a "flood of imports" on the U.S. market.
"After evaluating newly available information ... demonstrating that global production of bifacial solar panels is increasing, that the exclusion will likely result in significant increases in imports of bifacial solar panels, and that such panels likely will compete with domestically produced ... products in the U.S. market, the U.S. Trade Representative has determined, after consultation with the Secretaries of Commerce and Energy, that maintaining the exclusion will undermine the objectives of the safeguard measure," the USTR said.
The tariff exemption for bifacial panels will be withdrawn on Oct. 28.
Before the reversal was announced, NextEra Energy Inc. Chairman, President and CEO James Robo said the trade fight between Washington and Beijing has made Chinese solar panels "super expensive" in the U.S., pushing some companies to open factories outside of China to serve the American market.
"You're going to see people continue to build capacity, and technology is getting better," Robo said Oct. 2 at an investor conference. "You're seeing bifacial panels come in, and I think you're going to see prices continue to fall."
