Photovoltaic manufacturing is affected! The United States plans to impose tariffs on aluminum profiles

Later this month, a new U.S. anti-dumping and countervailing duty (AD/CVD) may have an adverse impact on the global photovoltaic manufacturing industry. The U.S. Department of Commerce is considering imposing anti-dumping/countervailing duties on aluminum profiles imported from 15 countries, including China, Mexico, Turkey, India, Italy and South Korea.

The organizations applying for an anti-dumping/countervailing investigation on aluminum profiles are the American Aluminum Profile Alliance and the "International Union of Steel, Paper and Forestry, Rubber, Manufacturing, Energy, Allied Industries and Service Workers of the United States", a group of 14 aluminum profile companies formed alliance. Antidumping and countervailing duties imposed by the U.S. Department of Commerce target imported products that are below domestic market value or production cost, which would drive down prices for U.S. manufacturers and cause financial harm to companies in their respective industries.

In the photovoltaic manufacturing industry, aluminum is used to make structural brackets and racks as well as photovoltaic module frames. The United States once produced most of the world's aluminum extrusions, but in recent decades, domestic manufacturing has relied on imported aluminum. The law firm Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Field filed a response to the anti-dumping and countervailing duty (AD/CV) investigation on behalf of the US Photovoltaic Industry Association (SEIA), citing concerns that the US Department of Commerce investigation will have a negative impact on related manufacturing industries.

"If these products could be sourced domestically, there are incentives in the Inflation Cutting Act to do so," the firm's filing states. "But our understanding of this approach is that these products cannot be sourced from U.S. producers." are obtained there. Therefore, imposing tariffs on these products is unnecessary and detrimental to U.S. clean energy production. It would run counter to the goals of the Inflation Cutting Act advocated by the U.S. government, which encourages domestic production of photovoltaic systems in the U.S. and unprecedented investments in installation and manufacturing. These investigations could impose tariffs on key products for the PV industry, thereby acting as a barrier to achieving these important goals."

The US Photovoltaic Industry Association (SEIA) also asked whether "finished PV modules" with aluminum frames would fall under the proposed import tariffs. The United States has imposed antidumping/countervailing duties on Chinese-made PV modules since 2012, and the U.S. Department of Commerce recently extended these duties to PV cells and PV modules made in Southeast Asia (specifically Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam) .

According to a press release issued by the U.S. International Trade Commission, the U.S. Department of Commerce is expected to announce the preliminary results of the countervailing investigation around December 28, and the results of the anti-dumping duty investigation around March 12, 2024. The U.S. International Trade Commission will release a report on these investigations on December 26.