Radio France Internationale (RFI) Chinese Edition recently reported that the United States may impose new tariffs on solar panels from four Southeast Asian countries. These U.S. domestic manufacturers see competition from cheap imports from Chinese companies operating in Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand and Cambodia as a threat to the Biden administration’s goal of promoting local production of clean energy technologies needed to combat climate change.
The American Solar Manufacturing Trade Council Alliance (AASMTC) stated in a petition to the U.S. government that Chinese manufacturers operating in the four Southeast Asian countries have received generous subsidies from the governments of these countries, including cheap financing, electricity and land tax exemptions, etc. These Chinese manufacturers also received support through China’s Belt and Road Initiative, according to AASMTC. The U.S. Commerce Department decided to consider the impact of cross-border subsidies for the first time.
The United States has already imposed a series of tariffs on solar imports. Not all U.S. manufacturers want to impose new tariffs on solar imports, as some U.S. companies assemble panels with low-cost solar cells from Southeast Asia.
Source: RFI Chinese, September 30, 2024
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