WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 02nd December, 2022) The US Department of Commerce has found that four major Chinese solar-cell manufacturers avoided US tariffs by shipping their products from Southeast Asia, The Wall Street Journal reported, on Friday citing sources familiar with the investigation.
The probe, which was sparked by a complaint by San Jose solar module manufacturer Auxin Solar, found that four of eight Chinese companies under investigation did not comply with tariff rules. Preliminary findings indicate that products shipped by BYD (H.K.) Co., Canadian Solar International Ltd., Trina Solar Science & Technology (Thailand) Ltd., and Vina Solar Technology Co. were essentially Chinese-made before their final assembly took place in Southeast Asia.
BYD ships products from Cambodia and would normally be subject to a 27% tariff rate. Canadian Solar ships from Thailand and would be subject to 16%. Trina, which ships from Thailand, and Vina, which ships from Vietnam, would each face a 254% tariff rate. These four companies account for more than half of US imports of solar cells, while the four Southeast Asia countries account for about 80% of imports.
The Commerce Department is expected to announce the preliminary findings Friday and release the final report in May after conducting on-site audits of the companies and holding a public consultation.
