US sets preliminary antidumping duty on solar imports of India, Indonesia and Laos

The U.S. Commerce Department announced preliminary antidumping duty on'solar panels and cells imported from India, Indonesia, and Laos. This is the latest in an arbitrary series of tariffs that have been imposed on solar imports for over a decade.

Federal trade officials found that the companies from the three countries had dumping cheap goods on the U.S. market and undercutting American manufacturers.

In a factsheet posted on the Commerce Department website, the agency calculated dumping margins (preliminary duty rates) of 123.04%?for imports coming from India, 35.17 % for imports coming from Indonesia and 22.46% for imports coming from Laos.

According to data from the government, last year, three countries accounted for $4.5 billion of U.S. solar imports. This is about two thirds of total.

This decision is a major blow to those producers who supplied goods to the rapidly growing U.S.

The petition was filed by the Alliance for American Solar Manufacturing & Trade, which includes Tempe-based First Solar and Qcells (the solar division of Hanwha, a Korean company), as well as private companies Talon PV & Mission Solar.

The group has won tariffs against imports from Southeast Asia, including Malaysia, Cambodia and Thailand.

Commerce Department announced that it would announce a final decision around July 13 on solar cells imported from India and Indonesia. A decision for imports from Laos will be made around September 9 or thereabouts.

In February, the agency announced preliminary countervailing duty on three countries. (Reporting and editing by Nichola Gaffen; Chris Reese, David Gaffen and David Gaffen).

(source: Reuters)