The US government has taken action to protect US clean energy manufacturers and increase jobs by announcing the immediate cancellation of the 14.25% tariff exemption on imports of double-sided solar panels.
Ali Zaidi, White House National Climate Advisor, said the US solar investment boom is threatened by unfair and non-market behaviour overseas. He argued that China's solar panel overcapacity, which is twice the size of global demand, threatens global panel manufacturing and the solar supply chain.
In addition, the US government recognised that Chinese manufacturers were avoiding tariffs by assembling solar modules in Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam, so the tariff exemption for solar products from these four Southeast Asian countries will end as scheduled in early June.
