The American Solar Energy Manufacturing Alliance Trade Committee (AASMTC), the same group that earlier this year requested an anti-dumping/countervailing duty (AD/CVD) investigation on solar products from Southeast Asia, today filed “allegations of critical conditions” with the Department of Commerce submitted regarding the increase in solar energy imports from Southeast Asia. Vietnam and Thailand hurting the US solar industry. The latest filing represents a 39% increase in imports from Vietnam and a 17% increase from Thailand between April and June 2024, compared to January to March 2024.
The original AD/CVD petition was filed in April 2024 by Wiley Rein, who represents AASMTC, and the group says import levels from the countries listed soared almost immediately.
“When we filed our petitions a few months ago, several China-based companies operating in Thailand and Vietnam appear to have actively accelerated their U.S. solar exports, likely evading the threatened tariffs. We were therefore compelled to file these critical circumstances allegations in response to these new import increases,” said Tim Brightbill, partner at Wiley Rein and lead attorney for the petitioners. “We cannot allow these countries – and Chinese companies – to continue to harm the US market.”
The Commerce Department took over the AD/CVD investigation in May, and the U.S. International Trade Commission made an affirmative preliminary finding in June that imports of solar panels from Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam were being improperly dumped at prices on the U.S. market. leaving American manufacturers unable to compete. The trade itself is expected to make preliminary decisions on countervailing duties in September and on anti-dumping duties in November. Final determinations and rate amounts would then come in the spring of 2025.
In the meantime, identifying critical conditions can help offset increased import numbers during an investigation. If Commerce identifies critical conditions, duties may be retroactively imposed on merchandise up to 90 days prior to the preliminary determinations. Before the tariffs can be made permanent, the U.S. ITC must also find that a surge in imports will hurt the domestic industry.
AASMTC’s critical conditions petition concerns crystalline silicon cells, whether or not assembled into modules, from Vietnam and Thailand.
