Key Solar players like Waaree Energies and Premier Energies are in focus after the US Department of Commerce initiated probe to determine whether solar PV cells and modules imported from India, Indonesia, and Laos in 2024 were sold at unfairly low prices or received unfair government subsidies. The move came after the Alliance for American Solar Manufacturing and Trade filed a petition on July 17.
The industry group’s countervailing duty (CVD) request focuses on imports of crystalline silicon photovoltaic (PV) cells from these three countries. The petition also includes anti-dumping duty requests for the same products.
Petitioner claims harm to US companies making solar cells
The petitioner has claimed that the Indian, Indonesian, and Laos governments are giving financial subsidies to solar cell producers in their countries. And it is these subsidies that are harming or threatening to harm US companies that make solar cells.
The petitions, which led to the countervailing duty (CVD) investigations, included information that the petitioner says supports these claims.
The US Department of Commerce has determined that the petitioner is acting on behalf of the domestic industry, as defined by law, and that there is enough support from the industry to begin the CVD investigations.
The petitioner has named 43 companies in India, 54 in Indonesia, and 8 in Laos in its petitions, as producers or exporters of solar cells.
The US Department of Commerce plans to follow its usual process in countervailing duty investigations by calculating subsidy rates for individual companies. If the number of companies is too large to review each one, the department will choose specific companies, called mandatory respondents.
US key market for Indian solar module exporters
The US is one of the biggest market for Indian exporters, accounting for more than 95% of exports in FY24. As a result, the trade policies there could have a significant impact on the evolving business dynamics.