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US dims Southeast Asia detour for China’s solar products with anti-dumping tariffs

04/12/2024    356

US Department of Commerce imposes preliminary anti-dumping duties on solar cells and modules from Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam.

Blocks are piling up for Chinese manufacturers seeking roundabout ways to access the United States, after Washington imposed a new round of tariffs on solar products imported from four Southeast Asian countries.

The region has become a major destination for Chinese solar firms transferring production capacity overseas in the past years, seen as an attempt to bypass US tariffs on direct imports from China.

But on Friday, the US Department of Commerce imposed preliminary anti-dumping duties of up to 271.2 per cent on solar cells and modules from Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam.

China’s Jinko Solar received duties of 21.31 per cent for products made in Malaysia and 56.51 per cent for its goods produced in Vietnam.

The Jiangsu-based Trina Solar, meanwhile, saw a dumping tariff of 77.85 per cent imposed on its products made in Thailand and one of 54.46 per cent on the goods it produces in Vietnam.

South Korea’s Hanwha Qcells, though, saw its new dumping margin set at zero for its production in Malaysia.

Hanwha Qcells, along with other companies including the Arizona-based First Solar, filed a petition in April for the Biden administration to impose tariffs on panels and cells from the four Asian countries, accusing Chinese companies of flooding the US market with cheaply priced products.

Friday’s announcement was the second of two preliminary decisions following an investigation by the US government, after a series of anti subsidy duties were imposed in October.

The “circuitous tactic” of Chinese solar manufacturers detouring via Southeast Asia to gain access to the US market may face bigger hurdles once US-president elect Donald Trump takes office, said Ron Cai, a partner at the Shanghai-based Zhong Lun Law Firm.

“As business in Southeast Asia is getting harder, people start to think about going to Mexico or the Middle East … it is possible that the new US administration will further tighten up the restrictions, so that they can drive you to invest in the US, and transfer the capacity and technology to the US,” Cai said.

“It is entirely possible that they treat your production in Mexico the same as ‘Made in China’.”

Last week, Trump said that he would levy tariffs of 25 per cent on all Canadian and Mexican imports, as well as additional duties of 10 per cent on Chinese goods, on his first day in office to address drug and immigration issues.

Kevin Wang, chief operating officer of Chinese electronics giant TCL Technology, said Chinese companies with investments overseas “should not worry too much” facing continuous abrupt threats from Trump, as they keep changing.

“So whatever you do to prepare for this today may be right or wrong,” Wang said on Thursday at an event organised by the Beijing-based Centre for China and Globalisation think tank.

“We have been studying these for a long time, no matter what kind of move he makes, we don’t think it will cause very serious damage.”

The US is the biggest export market for TCL, whose major products include televisions, and washing machines, as well as solar panels. The company has production bases in Mexico and Vietnam.

As for setting up factories in the US, the level of feasibility depends on the industries, he added.

“I think in industries like consumer electronics, it may not be cost-effective to build an assembly plant in the United States,” he said.

“Of course, the situation is always changing. Maybe some industries feel that the current changes in the situation make [investment in the US] necessary, this may have to do with their products. We are paying close attention to the changes in various relevant policies.”

Source: SCMP
 

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