The US government made the latest ruling on the import of Southeast Asian solar modules

Photovoltaic "double anti-dumping" is suspended for two years! The US government made the latest ruling on the import of Southeast Asian solar modules

On September 16, 2022, President Biden of the United States issued an administrative order to suspend the final rule of the United States Department of Commerce on the imposition of new anti regulatory tax avoidance on photovoltaic cells and photovoltaic modules imported from Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam for a period of two years. This decision was made in response to the strong opposition of the US PV module importers to taxation. They expressed concern about this and said that the investigation of the US Department of Commerce had prevented the development of many PV projects.

As Auxin Solar, the US photovoltaic module manufacturer, filed a complaint with the US Department of Commerce, the US Department of Commerce decided to launch a circumvention investigation on April 1, 2022, and this two-year ban was the response of US President Biden to this circumvention investigation. Auxin Solar claims that the photovoltaic products produced in these Southeast Asian countries have not been affected by the anti-dumping and countervailing duty orders against China's solar batteries and solar panels.

Due to circumvention cases and potential high tariffs that may be imposed on Southeast Asian countries, the development of many photovoltaic projects in the United States has actually been suspended. President Biden of the United States has taken unprecedented measures to this end, citing the National Defense Production Act to stop anti circumvention investigations. The National Defense Production Act also gives President Biden greater power to authorize American industrial manufacturers to improve their ability to manufacture photovoltaic modules in America.

The legal provisions adopted allow the President to issue an executive order to suspend certain import duties in response to an emergency "due to a state of war or other reasons". During the state of emergency, the President may approve the import of "food, clothing, medical, surgical and other supplies for emergency relief work" duty-free. Although the suspension of customs duties is for two years, the US Department of Commerce said that its investigation would continue during this period. However, if the investigation results prove that there is circumvention, customs duties or cash deposits will not be collected until the expiration of the two-year suspension. President Biden's use of the National Defense Production Act to prevent the US Department of Commerce from imposing additional tariffs is likely to face multiple challenges, but it is too early to appeal. At present, the deadline for making a preliminary ruling on circumvention is November 28, 2022.

The final rule has made some changes to the originally proposed rule. The most important thing is to outline that the two-year suspension of tariff collection should not be used as a mechanism for PV developers to purchase and store PV cells and PV modules, so as to avoid possible tariffs. President Biden of the United States declared a state of emergency on June 6, 2022, and cited the provisions of the Tariff Act and the National Defense Production Act implemented in 1930. At first, he did not address the concerns related to photovoltaic module inventory, but after reviewing the opinions of several industry groups representing domestic manufacturers and members of the Senate Finance Committee, the final rules published on September 16, 2022 addressed these concerns. In its final rules, the U.S. Department of Commerce pointed out that "the goal of the U.S. Department of Commerce is not to allow photovoltaic products entering the U.S. market before the termination date to be used for long-term installation of photovoltaic projects, because the emergency declared by President Biden affected the measures we took." Taking into account all the opinions, the US Department of Commerce has made several amendments to the rules, including a provision that restricts the tariff exemption to photovoltaic modules and photovoltaic cells "used or installed" in the US within 180 days from the date of termination of the rules, and the date of termination shall be June 6, 2024 at the latest.