Add South Korea to the list of countries where U.S. solar panel manufacturers are asking the U.S. Department of Commerce to investigate for anti-dumping/countervailing duty (AD/CVD) circumvention.
Heliene of Minnesota, SEG Solar of Texas and Canadian Solar’s cell manufacturing company in Indiana have joined together under the banner “American Manufacturers for Energy Resilience” to submit the research request. The three companies claim that South Korea has become the largest import source of solar cells into the United States, driven largely by conglomerate Hanwha and its solar subsidiary Qcells. They say Hanwha is circumventing Chinese AD/CVD orders by doing “minimal work” in South Korea.
Credit: Qcells
AD/CVD orders for solar cells and panels from China emerged in 2012, after the U.S. government determined that China was dumping solar panel products into the U.S. market at prices that prevented domestic manufacturers from competing. More AD/CVD orders have been issued against countries that the United States determined were minimally processing Chinese inputs, thereby circumventing the original tariffs. First came Taiwan, then Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam. The Ministry of Commerce is currently deciding what tariffs to impose on solar energy products from India, Indonesia and Laos.
The Alliance for American Solar Manufacturing and Trade, a group of U.S. solar panel manufacturers that typically backs AD/CVD investigation requests, filed a new petition against Ethiopia last month. The Ministry of Commerce is still deciding whether to start the investigation. The Alliance, which includes major players First Solar and Qcells, is not involved in this latest Korean application.
The American Manufacturers for Energy Resilience (AMER), represented by law firm Lighthill PC, says Hanwha uses Chinese wafers in its South Korean-made solar cells, which the Commerce Department says is a “minor or insignificant process” that circumvents the original Chinese AD/CVD orders. AMER says other Korean cell exporters could include HD Hyundai Energy Solutions and Shinsung E&G, but Hanwha is the dominant Korean solar cell exporter.
According to data from the US International Trade Commission, South Korea has been the top source country for solar cell imports over the past three months:
The Department of Commerce has 30 days to initiate an investigation.
A few notes:
- Qcells operates a solar panel assembly plant in Georgia and this month started production at its cell factory, also in Georgia. Many (if not all) of the imported Korean cells in recent months have been used in panels assembled by Qcells.
- SEG Solar, one of the applicants in this Korean study, produces cells for its Texas-assembled panels in Indonesia, one of the countries currently under investigation, as requested by Qcells.
