Two commissioners agreed on a 30% tariff on imported solar modules declining over four years, plus a tariff-rate quota on cells.
The U.S. International Trade Commission released a set of recommendations on the Section 201 solar trade case Tuesday that will soon make their way to President Trump for final consideration.
The proposed remedies are less severe than the tariff rates requested by petitioners Suniva and SolarWorld Americas, but stand to have a meaningful impact on the U.S. solar sector nonetheless.
Commissioners Irving Williamson and David Johanson aligned on the proposal to place a 30 percent ad valorem tariff on imported crystalline silicon PV (CSPV) modules, to decline by 5 percentage points per year over four years.
For imported solar cells, the two commissioners agreed on four-year “tariff-rate quota” that would allow for up to 1 gigawatt of tariff-free cell imports. Any imports over 1 gigawatt would be subject to a 30 percent tariff. Each subsequent year, the tariff rate would decrease by 5 percentage points and the in-quota amount would increase by 0.2 gigawatts.
This proposal carries weight as the recommended remedy with the most commissioner support.
Source: greentechmedia
