Firms advised to stay cautious despite US’s tariffs exemption on solar panels

At a solar power project in Vietnam (Photo: VNA)

Hanoi – The Trade Remedies Authority has recommended businesses stay cautious after US President Joe Biden's announcement on June 6 on tariff exemption for solar panels imported from Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia and Thailand, urging them to continue to review their export of products subject to the US’s anti-circumvention investigation.

The exporters should carefully study related regulations and procedures, and seriously and fully comply with the requirements made by US investigation agency as well as closely coordinate with the Vietnamese authority throughout the course of the case, it noted.

On June 6, US President Joe Biden also declared a state of emergency related to a shortage of domestic supply of solar cells and modules for solar power generation. He authorised the Secretary of Commerce to consider appropriate action allowing a 24-month tariff exemption for solar panels imported from Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia and Thailand. The move aimed to ensure the US has access to a sufficient supply of solar modules to meet electricity generation needs while domestic manufacturing scales up.

Earlier, in March, the US Department of Commerce (DOC) began an investigation to determine if solar cells and modules imported from the four Southeast Asian nations are circumventing existing antidumping and countervailing tariffs on those from China.

According to the Trade Remedies Authority of Vietnam, the case is still underway, with no official conclusion issued yet. Therefore, the US’s anti-dumping and anti-subsidy measures are not imposed on products imported from Vietnam at the moment.

If a decision on imposing these measures is made, the application will be possibly postponed to June 6, 2024 or until the state of emergency is lifted (whichever comes first).