Clerical loophole could let Southeast Asian solar panels enter US without antidumping duties

If the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) does not quickly publish its final determination in the antidumping/countervailing duty (AD/CVD) investigation affecting solar panels from Southeast Asia, a potential loophole could allow millions of solar panels to enter the U.S. market untariffed. This is according to the American Alliance for Solar Manufacturing Trade Committee, the successful petitioners in the AD/CVD case.

The Committee believes large quantities of solar cells and panels from Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam are being held in bonded warehouses and in inventories, and could enter the United States without duties if the ITC does not pass on its final determination to Customs and Border Protection (CBP) by June 2.

In a letter to ITC Secretary Lisa Barton, the Committee says that antidumping measures based on the Dept. of Commerce’s preliminary calculations can be imposed on imported solar products for no more than 180 days. After 180 days, CBP can collect antidumping cash deposits only once the ITC’s affirmative final determination is published in the Federal Register.

Commerce’s provisional antidumping duties were imposed on Dec. 4, 2024. They stay in effect through June 1 (180 days later). That means anything entering the country on or after June 2 will not be subject to any duties, preliminary or final. Therefore, the Committee is requesting the ITC publish its affirmative determination as soon as possible and no later than June 2, 2025.

Product has already been entering the country without countervailing duties based on this same “loophole.” The preliminary CVD measures were released in October; therefore, Southeast Asian solar imports have been able to enter the United States since February without countervailing duties. The Committee said in its letter to the ITC that at least in this instance, the products were still met with the preliminary AD measures.

While imports from Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam have dropped from early-2024 levels, there are still plenty of tariffed cells and panels coming into the country.