Corning Boosts Manufacturing Investment to $1.5 Billion, Citing ‘Increasing Demand’ for US-Made Components

Trump’s tariffs make imported solar products more costly for companies.

Solar panels mounted on top of the roof of the Los Angeles Convention Center in Los Angeles. Mario Tama/Getty Images

Materials science company Corning Inc. is boosting investment at its upcoming solar component-manufacturing facility in Saginaw County, Michigan, to $1.5 billion, the company said in an April 29 statement.

Corning had initially allocated up to $900 million for the manufacturing facility, which was expected to create more than 1,100 jobs.

The investment expansion will create 400 “new high-paying advanced manufacturing jobs,” it said, adding that the decision to dial up funding was taken “to support increasing demand for U.S.-made solar components.”

“The company’s increased manufacturing capacity will enable Corning to supply high-quality solar wafers and help strengthen the domestic solar supply chain with industry-leading solar manufacturers,” it said.

The company’s CEO, Wendell P. Weeks, said Corning was “proud to meet the increasing demand for U.S.-sourced solar products by accelerating the ramp of our advanced manufacturing assets and support the nation’s priority of domestic energy security.”

Last year, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and the Michigan Economic Development Corporation announced that Corning selected the state for the new solar component-manufacturing facility over competing sites in the Northeast and the Midwest.

Starting wages at the facility are expected to be above the median wage in the region. To support the project, Michigan Strategic Fund has approved multiple grants and incentives valued at more than $109 million.

Corning’s decision to boost manufacturing capacity in the United States comes amid the Trump administration’s tariffs on imports.

On April 2, President Donald Trump announced a 10 percent universal baseline tariff on U.S. trading partners. In addition, the administration imposed reciprocal tariffs on several nations on a case-by-case basis depending on their existing trade barriers against the United States, though it paused these for 90 days—except for tariffs on China—to allow for trade negotiations with those countries.

Importing foreign-made components will prove costly to companies, as they now have to pay high import duties. Shifting production stateside makes business sense in such circumstances.

During an April 29 earnings call, Mark Widmar, CEO of First Solar, the largest domestic solar module manufacturer in the United States, raised concerns about tariffs, saying it introduces “significant challenges.”

“The president’s implementation of reciprocal tariffs earlier this month with rates of 26 percent, 24 percent, and 46 percent applicable to India, Malaysia, and Vietnam, respectively, creates a significant economic headwind for our manufacturing facilities in these countries selling into the U.S. market,” he said.

“While the subsequent 90-day pause to the effectiveness of these tariffs and the application of a 10 percent universal tariff partially mitigates the impact, the lower rate would still result in a meaningful adverse gross margin impact to sales into the United States, absent the duty being fully passed through to the module buyer.”

Tariffs on China-Backed Solar Imports

On April 21, the Department of Commerce announced plans to slap import duties of up to 3,521 percent on solar cell imports from four Southeast Asian nations to combat unfair trade practices.

The decision follows a 2024 complaint filed by American manufacturers alleging that Chinese-owned companies in the four countries were dumping solar products into the United States at unfairly low prices and harming America’s solar sector.

The department said companies located in Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam were receiving subsidies from China.

The highest duties—3,521 percent—were charged on solar goods coming from Cambodia as companies in the country refused to cooperate with the U.S. investigation. Malaysia’s Jinko Solar was charged a tariff of 41.56 percent, and Thailand’s Trina Solar faces duties of 375.19 percent.

“These are among the first CVD [countervailing duty] investigations wherein Commerce has made an affirmative finding that companies received transnational subsidies,” the department said.

The American Alliance for Solar Manufacturing Trade Committee, which led the case, welcomed the Commerce Department’s decision.

In an April 21 statement, Tim Brightbill, lead counsel of the coalition, called the tariffs a “decisive victory for American manufacturing.”

The decision “confirms what we’ve long known: that Chinese-headquartered solar companies have been cheating the system, undercutting U.S. companies, and costing American workers their livelihoods,” he said.

“Enforcing our trade laws isn’t just a legal matter—it’s essential to rebuilding our industrial base, securing our energy independence, and protecting American jobs.”

The tariffs must now be approved by the U.S. International Trade Commission, which has until June 2 to decide on the matter.

The domestic U.S. market is expected to see robust demand for solar power generation capacity this year.

A Feb. 24 analysis from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said that a “record” 30 gigawatts (GW) of utility-scale solar generation capacity was added to the U.S. grid in 2024.

This accounted for 61 percent of total electricity-generation capacity additions in the country last year. The EIA expects the trend to continue through 2025 as well, projecting 32.5 GW of solar capacity additions.

“Texas (11.6 GW) and California (2.9 GW) will account for almost half of the new utility-scale solar capacity addition in 2025,” said the analysis.

“We expect five other states—Indiana, Arizona, Michigan, Florida, and New York—each to account for more than 1 GW of added solar capacity in 2025 and collectively account for 7.8 GW of planned solar capacity additions.”