Survey shows impact on solar companies following U.S. Commerce investigation into imports
Since the U.S. Commerce Department initiated a circumvention case against imports of solar goods from Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam, roughly 75 percent of solar companies said that panel deliveries have been canceled or delayed.
This statistic was revealed in a survey of more than 200 solar companies conducted by the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA). The survey found that 90 percent of the companies polled said that the Commerce Department’s actions are having a severe or devastating impact on their bottom line, including all domestic manufacturers. Further, two-thirds of the companies said half of their workforce was at risk, and one-third said their entire workforce was at risk.
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“This investigation is based on a meritless trade case that is hammering the solar industry in real-time and diminishing our efforts as a country to tackle climate change,” SEIA President and CEO Abigail Ross Hopper said. “We urge the administration to expedite this investigation and end this unnecessary roadblock to our clean energy future.”
The circumvention investigation was initiated on March 25. To prove circumvention under U.S. law, the work to create a product in a particular country must be minor and insignificant. The countries listed in the petition have invested billions of dollars in establishing a manufacturing base. Fabricating solar cells and panels is a significant operation that will take years to develop in the United States. A recent report by Wood Mackenzie found that the circumvention petitions could eliminate 16 gigawatts of panels from the U.S supply chain, which is two-thirds of all the panels the U.S. installed in 2021. SEIA estimates that the solar industry will lose 70,000 out of its 231,000 jobs as a result of this petition.
Currently, there is legislation being considered in Congress that would establish a solar manufacturing supply chain that would make the United States less reliant on products from overseas. Presently, the industry is dealing with supply chain challenges and price increases. In 2021, solar equipment costs increased by 18 percent, and the threat of previous trade actions caused project delays and cancellations, according to a report released by SEIA and Wood Mackenzie.
“We’ve said that tariffs are not the right way to incentivize manufacturing and that it is going to take time and policy commitment to move manufacturing into the United States at the scale that’s needed,” Hopper said. “The countries named in the petition have been reliable trading partners, and we need their products, in the near term at least, while we fight to establish a sustained and powerful manufacturing presence here in America.”
