US President Donald Trump’s administration continues its tariff war, which in some cases seems to be hurting the Americans themselves more than other countries. Another such example was the newly imposed tariffs on solar cells from four Southeast Asian countries that were major suppliers to the United States. In some cases, the duties increased to an insane 3521%.
The increased duties apply to Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam. Together, these countries accounted for more than 3/4 of all solar module imports to the US last year. Cambodia refused to cooperate with the investigation and received the highest duty of — 3521%. For Vietnamese companies, the duty can reach 395.9%, for Thai companies — 375.2%, and for Malaysian companies — 34.4%. The new duties effectively make these products «unsuitable for sale» on the US market.
The move follows a long-running investigation by the U.S. Department of Commerce into whether Chinese companies are using Southeast Asian countries as transit points to circumvent U.S. duties and lower prices. It also intensifies Donald Trump’s trade war with China, which has already caused turmoil on global markets with this month’s sharp increase in tariffs. After the first wave of shocking tariffs, Trump announced a 90-day pause on the introduction of tariffs — except for China.
There is no consensus among American solar companies on the issue of cheap solar cells from Southeast Asia. Domestic producers have asked the Department of Commerce to investigate, while renewable energy project developers are concerned that the duties could increase the cost of building and manufacturing panels in the US from imported cells.
The final decision on these duties is due to be made by the US International Trade Commission in June.
The Trump administration’s tariffs are hurting even the president’s supporters. Recently Tesla and SpaceX complained about the dutiesheaded by Trump’s close ally Elon Musk. On the good news side Trump’s tariffs do not apply to semiconductors… for now.
Source: The Verge