The Zhitong Finance App learned that the US Department of Commerce initially ruled on Friday EST that solar products imported from Southeast Asia were unfairly sold in the US at prices below production costs, and proposed tariffs of up to 271% to offset this practice. The ruling marks another victory for US solar panel makers, who argue that these cheap imports hurt their business and disrupt government investment aimed at nurturing America's domestic supply chain.

The problem now is that crystalline silicon photovoltaic cells (and the components made from them) are imported from Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam, and these countries currently supply most of the US's solar cells and modules. Nearly two months ago, the US Department of Commerce released the preliminary findings of another independent but related investigation, that solar products imported from Southeast Asia unfairly benefited from government aid.

The US investigation was triggered by an April petition from the American Alliance for Solar Manufacturing Trade Committee (American Alliance for Solar Manufacturing Trade Committee). The companies represented by the committee include First Solar (FSLR.US), Hanwha Qcells USA Inc. and Mission Solar Energy LLC.

After the news was announced, First Solar's stock price rose 3.8%, while JinkoEnergy's American Depositary Receipts fell 2.9%. As of press release, there was a slight decline of 0.14% after the first solar market.

These investigations are the latest move by US manufacturers against overseas rivals. After the US imposed similar tariffs on solar products imported from China about 12 years ago, Chinese manufacturers responded by setting up factories in other Asian countries not affected by the tariffs.

Tim Brightbill (Tim Brightbill), partner at Wiley Rein (Wiley Rein) and lead attorney for the petitioner, said in an email statement, “With these initial tariffs, we are one step closer to addressing years of harmful unfair trade and protecting the multi-billion dollar investment in America's new solar manufacturing and supply chain.” “These initial interest rates are in line with our expectations for market conditions and how these four countries are engaging in unfair trade practices that damage American manufacturing and employment.”

At the same time, this has aroused opposition from some foreign manufacturers and domestic renewable energy developers, who say the tariffs have given an unfair advantage to large existing panel manufacturers operating in the US, while increasing the cost of solar power generation projects.

According to Friday's action, goods imported from Cambodia face a cash margin rate of 117.12%.

For Malaysia, the initial assessment tax rate ranged from 17.84% for Jinko Solar Technology Sdn. (Jinko Solar Technology Sdn.) to 81.24% for other suppliers. Hanwha Q Cells Malaysia Limited's initial assessment was that there was no dumping margin, so the initial cash margin ratio was 0%.

Products imported from Vietnamese exporters such as Jingao Solar Vietnam Co., Ltd., Jinko Solar (Vietnam) Industrial Co., Ltd., Tianhe Solar Energy Development Co., Ltd. and Boviet Solar Technology Co face a cash margin ratio of 53.19% to 56.4%. Vietnamese exporters not designated by the US Department of Commerce during Friday's action are required to pay 271.28% of the tariffs.

The final decisions of the two trade investigations are expected to be made in April next year, and the tariffs initially assessed may be raised, lowered, or completely rejected as a result of the investigation results.