US solar panel manufacturers won a new degree of trade protection against Chinese competitors, but are already looking ahead to new challenges in a global game of tariff whack-a-mole.
The US Commerce Department ruled this week that solar panel manufacturers in India, Indonesia, and Laos are the beneficiaries of unfair government subsidies, and must therefore pay a tariff as high as 143% to import their products to the US.
The ruling, which is separate from the Supreme Court decision striking down Trump’s global tariff regime, is the outcome of a case brought by US manufacturers including First Solar who argued that their multibillion-dollar investments in new factories are unable to compete against rivals that, although physically located across Asia, are ultimately controlled by Chinese firms.
Tim Brightbill, lead attorney for the trade group that brought the complaint, praised the ruling, but said he was already thinking ahead to where these companies may land next. And after visiting a recent solar trade show, he has a good guess: Ethiopia. “Does Ethiopia have a comparative advantage in making solar? No,” he said. “But what does it have? Chinese companies that are picking up to move there.” In the meantime, the ruling didn’t do much to help First Solar’s shareholders, who were hit by disappointing quarterly earnings figures on Wednesday as the company reeled from other tariffs and from major project cancellations.