US Imposes Tariffs Up to 3,521% on Solar Imports From Asia

The Department of Commerce said that solar manufacturing companies in the four countries receive subsidies from the Chinese communist regime.

Workers walk between solar cell panels over the water surface of Sirindhorn Dam in Ubon Ratchathani, Thailand, on April 8, 2021. Prapan Chankaew/Reuters

The U.S. Department of Commerce announced on Monday plans to impose duties of up to 3,521 percent on solar cell imports from four Southeast Asian nations in a bid to curb unfair trade practices.

The move follows a complaint filed by U.S. manufacturers last year alleging that Chinese-owned solar manufacturers operating in Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam have been dumping solar products into the U.S. market at unfairly low prices and receiving subsidies, causing material injury to the U.S. solar industry.

In a statement, the department said that its investigations into the imports of crystalline photovoltaic cells—key components in solar panels—found that companies in the four countries were receiving subsidies from the Chinese communist regime.

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

The tariffs unveiled on Monday vary widely depending on the company and country. Among the companies affected by the tariffs are Jinko Solar, Trina Solar, and Solar Long PV-Tech, which are linked to Chinese entities.

Combined dumping and countervailing duties on Jinko Solar products from Malaysia were among the lowest at 41.56 percent. Rival Trina Solar’s products from its operations in Thailand face tariffs of 375.19 percent, according to the department’s final duty determinations.

Products from Cambodia would face duties of more than 3,521 percent because its producers elected not to cooperate with the U.S. probe.

The tariffs still require approval from the International Trade Commission, which has until June 2 to issue its final injury determination. No orders will be issued if the commission rules negatively, the department stated.

The American Alliance for Solar Manufacturing Trade Committee, a coalition of U.S. solar manufacturers leading the case, hailed the final duty determinations as a “decisive victory” for the U.S. solar industry.

Tim Brightbill, lead counsel of the coalition, said that the department’s decision confirms that “Chinese-headquartered solar companies have been cheating the system, undercutting U.S. companies, and costing American workers their livelihoods.”

“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,” Brightbill said in a statement.

The final determinations came amid President Donald Trump’s move to impose a minimum 10 percent tariff on all trading partners, along with steeper levies on about 60 nations identified as the “worst offenders” in trade imbalances with the United States.

The Trump administration later granted a 90-day pause to most countries, except for China, which faced up to 245 percent tariffs on imports to the United States “as a result of its retaliatory actions.”

China increased tariffs on U.S. imports from 84 to 125 percent after Trump announced 145 percent tariffs on all Chinese imports. The Chinese regime also suspended exports of certain rare earth metals to the United States as part of its retaliatory measures.

President Donald Trump speaks to reporters after signing a proclamation in the Oval Office at the White House on April 17, 2025. Win McNamee/Getty Images

Trump told reporters at the Oval Office on April 17 that Chinese officials had contacted his administration to negotiate amid an ongoing tariffs battle.

“I believe we’re going to have a deal with China, and if we don’t, we’re going to have a deal anyway, because we will set a certain target, and that’s going to be it,” he said.

In August 2023, the Department of Commerce found that certain Chinese solar producers ship their products through Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam for minor processing in an attempt to circumvent tariffs that would apply to Chinese imports.

American columnist and author Gordon Chang said that Trump’s tariffs will close that loophole and prevent other countries from helping China to bypass them.

“China has been very good at evading it. It’s not only the fraudulent bills of lading that we just talked about, but it’s also building plants in other countries and then manufacturing and then shipping them into the United States,” Chang said in an April 7 interview with The Epoch Times.

Jacob Burg and Reuters contributed to this report.