WASHINGTON, July 18 — A group of United States (US) solar panel manufacturers asked the Commerce Department to impose anti-dumping and countervailing duties on imports from Indonesia, India, and Laos, according to documents on an agency website.
The petition is the latest effort by the small US solar manufacturing industry to seek trade relief to protect billions of dollars of investment and compete with goods produced mainly by Chinese companies overseas.
The Alliance for American Solar Manufacturing and Trade, which filed the petition, includes First Solar, Hanwha's Qcells, Talon PV, and Mission Solar.
The group has succeeded previously in winning tariffs on imports from countries in Southeast Asia, including Malaysia, Cambodia, Vietnam, and Thailand.
Those tariffs were finalised earlier this year, prompting some global producers to shift production to Indonesia and Laos. The alliance also accuses Indian manufacturers of dumping cheap goods in the US to undercut domestic producers.
"We have always said, vigorous enforcement of our trade laws is critical to the success of this industry,” said the petitioners' lead attorney Tim Brightbill in a statement.
— Reuters
