For those who assume a 25% tariff is dangerous, what a couple of tariff that goes previous 3,500%?On Monday, the U.S. Division of Commerce slapped excessive tariffs on photo voltaic panels and their associated merchandise coming from 4 Southeast Asia nations, Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand, and Cambodia, accusing producers there of dumping merchandise on the U.S. market. The announcement ends a yearlong commerce probe initiated underneath the Biden administration.
Tariff ranges diversified wildly between completely different nations and producers. Photo voltaic cells made in Malaysia by Korean firm Hanwha solely bought a tariff of 14.64%, the bottom imposed.
In distinction, 4 producers in Cambodia—Hounen Photo voltaic, Jinktek Photovoltaic, ISC Cambodia and Photo voltaic Lengthy PV Tech—bought tariffs of 3521.14%. The Southeast Asian nation stopped cooperating with the U.S. probe, resulting in such excessive penalties.
The U.S. Worldwide Commerce Fee will make a last willpower on tariff charges on June 2.
U.S. photo voltaic producers, in addition to international firms that invested in U.S. primarily based manufacturing, lobbied for anti-dumping tariffs on Southeast Asian producers, accusing them of pricing their merchandise beneath manufacturing price. The American Alliance for Photo voltaic Manufacturing Commerce Committee additionally argued that Southeast Asian firms acquired an unfair stage of subsidies, making the U.S.-made photo voltaic panels uncompetitive.
Chinese language-owned photo voltaic manufacturing amenities have popped up throughout Southeast Asia as firms sought to navigate U.S.-China commerce frictions.
Whereas Cambodia continues to be primarily an agrarian economic system, photo voltaic panels have been the Southeast Asian nation’s prime export to the U.S. final yr, in keeping with knowledge from the consultancy Oxford Economics.
In complete, the U.S. imported $12.9 billion value of photo voltaic gear from the 4 nations focused by Monday’s tariffs, representing about 77% of module imports in keeping with Bloomberg knowledge.
In an announcement on Monday, the Alliance known as the Commerce Division’s last tariff suggestion a “decisive victory” for American manufacturing.
“Implementing our commerce legal guidelines isn’t only a authorized matter—it’s important to rebuilding our industrial base, securing our vitality independence and defending American jobs,” Tim Brightbill, co-chair of Wiley’s Worldwide Commerce Apply and lead counsel to the group, mentioned in an announcement.
This story was initially featured on Fortune.com
