It is well worth noting that the Biden administration, in its response to a request by Hanwha Qcells, a South Korean solar cell manufacturer, is all set to reinstate tariffs on dominant bifacial solar panel technology, which is imported from China as well as other nations, by way of reversing a two-year-old trade waiver, Reuters said, citing insiders.
Qcells’ plea, which happened to be presented to the US Trade Representative in February 2024, is said to be pointed at protecting the company’s USD-2.5 billion or EUR 2.35 billion US solar manufacturing expansion plan by way of cheaper Asia-made products.
The petition happened to be backed by seven other sector players: Crossroads Solar, Mission First Solar, Heliene, Suniva, Silfab, and Mission Solar, as well as Auxin Solar.
The tariff exemption in question happened to be initially executed by former President Donald Trump in 2018 and was later extended by President Biden in 2022.
The report is said to have cropped up after a group of US lawmakers, led by Senator Jon Ossoff in January 2024, went on to urge the US administration to raise tariffs on Chinese solar imports which happen to be threatening American solar manufacturing. At that point in time, they went on to cite a study saying that in 2023, the price of a solar panel manufactured in China dipped to USD 0.15 per watt, which happened to be 60% below the price of a US-made one.