The United States has reached a trade deal with India that will reduce some of the tariffs on Indian imports. Few details were provided, but news reports say the United States will cut India’s export tariff to 18%. Previously this was even 50%.
It’s welcome news for Indian solar panel manufacturers. Indian solar panel brands became popular in the United States, but import figures remained relatively stagnant while the excessive tariff rates were in place.
“The $500 billion India-US trade deal, with reciprocal tariffs rationalized to 18%, represents a structural turning point for the Indian energy industry – especially on the export front,” said Gyanesh Chaudhary, chairman and director of an Indian panel company Vikram Solar. “Indian energy and clean technology exports to the US have always played an important role for the industry, and this agreement significantly increases our global competitiveness by improving price efficiency, security of access and long-term demand visibility. For Indian manufacturers and solution providers in solar, energy equipment, advanced materials and energy infrastructure, this creates a powerful runway to scale exports, deepen value addition and integrate more meaningfully into global supply chains.”
While the across-the-board tariff reduction will be helpful for Indian panel brands, the United States is still examining whether to impose anti-dumping/countervailing duties (AD/CVD) on imports of Indian panels. The US International Trade Commission (ITC) launched an AD/CVD investigation in August 2025 into solar cells and panels imported from India and the Southeast Asian countries of Indonesia and Laos. The Commerce Department will determine potential tariff amounts for solar energy imports from all three countries if the ITC finds unfair trade practices.
Import data through November 2025 shows steady import figures from India compared to Indonesia and Laos. Data for the first eleven months of 2025 shows that India ranks fourth in terms of total panel imports, also behind Vietnam.
