The United States Department of Commerce has imposed new import tariffs of up to 3400% on solar panels made in Southeast Asian countries. This will have an impact on solar panel companies located in Malaysia, Cambodia, Thailand and Vietnam.
The move to impose high tariffs on factories that are majority-owned by Chinese companies was taken after receiving complaints from solar panel manufacturers in the United States. The selling price of imported solar panels is lower than the cost of producing them in the United States, which makes local companies unable to compete.
In Malaysia, Hanwha Q CELLS Malaysia Sdn. Bhd. was charged the lowest tariff of 14.64% while Baojia New Energy, Pax Union Resources Sdn Bhd and SunMax Energy Sdn Bhd were charged a tariff of 168.80%. Other companies in Malaysia were charged a tariff of 32.49%.
Four companies in Cambodia, namely Jintek Photovoltaic Technology Co., Ltd., Hounen Solar Inc, ISC Cambodia Co., Ltd. and Solar Long PV-Tech (Cambodia) Co. Ltd. were subject to the highest tariff of 3,403.96%. The highest tariff was imposed on Cambodia due to the manufacturer's failure to cooperate with the investigation by the United States representative.