Promoted by the changing regulations, at least six China's PV module producers have established and eight have announced to establish production bases in the US in 2023, with some already in operation, according to Mysteel survey. Among them are the top five module producers around the globe, namely Trina Solar, JA Solar Technology, Longi Green Energy, JinKO Solar, and CSI Solar, with a combined capacity of over 16 GW.
Source: Mysteel
China's module producers reported difficulties in exporting directly to the US in 2023. Instead, they had to ship the products to other markets first. In addition, the significant decrease in the prices of crystalline polysilicon in the first half hurt the profitability of the module producers, which was reflected in the H12023 earnings report.
Evolution of US regulations
In June 2021, the US Customs and Border Protection issued a Withhold Release Order against a China's enterprise, prohibiting the import of polysilicon supplied by this enterprise as well as the use of products derived or produced from the enterprise's polysilicon. The administration later detained the modules exported by China's photovoltaic enterprises to the United States.
In February 2022, the US government extended the tariff protection measures (201 measures) for solar cells and modules that are about to expire by four years.
In March 2022, the US Department of Commerce launched an anti-circumvention investigation into photovoltaic products from Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand, and Cambodia, and further investigated the actions of China's photovoltaic module manufacturers transferring some of their manufacturing businesses to Southeast Asia to avoid anti-dumping and countervailing (AD/CVD) tariffs.
In June 2022, the US government announced a 24-month tariff exemption for PV modules purchased from Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam.
On October 14, 2022, President Biden temporarily waived all anti-dumping or countervailing duties on solar cells and modules assembled in Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand, or Vietnam using Chinese made components, which will help to re-release the demand for photovoltaic installations in the United States and facilitate the expansion of major module manufacturers in the next two years. The continuous trade frictions in the photovoltaic field will have a certain negative impact on the internationalization of photovoltaic enterprises.
Written by Aggie Hu, huchenying@mysteel.com
