For the primary time in eight years, imported photo voltaic panels to america are now not met with Sec. 201 tariffs. Initiated in President Donald Trump’s first time period and prolonged by his successor Joe Biden, the tariffs expired on Feb. 6, 2026.
Tariffs beneath Sec. 201 of the Commerce Act of 1974 are designed to guard U.S. industries from hurt brought on by elevated imports. In 2017 U.S. photo voltaic cell producer Suniva and module maker SolarWorld requested for the investigation, and the U.S. Worldwide Commerce Fee (ITC) decided that a rise in crystalline silicon cell and panel imports was harming American photo voltaic producers. The 2018 tariffs were 30% with the primary 2.5 GW of imported cells for U.S. panel assemblers allowed exemption. The tariff quantity decreased each year, in the end touchdown at 14% for 2025 imports.
There was a continuing back-and-forth as as to whether bifacial photo voltaic panels needs to be exempt from the tariffs. The Trump administration first excluded the specialty photo voltaic panel from the tariffs in 2018, and a rise of bifacial imports was instantly seen. The federal government removed the exemption for bifacial modules in 2020, however then the Court docket of Worldwide Commerce reinstated the exemption in 2021. The Biden administration kept the bifacial exemption when it prolonged the tariffs in 2022.
The ITC released its midterm review of the Sec. 201 photo voltaic panel tariffs in February 2024 and commented on the evolving U.S. photo voltaic manufacturing market. The ITC acknowledged that the home manufacturing business was nonetheless struggling harm due to imports, however there was elevated funding within the home market as a consequence of favorable incentives within the Inflation Discount Act.
Timothy Brightbill, companion at Wiley Rein LLP and commerce counsel to the Alliance for American Photo voltaic Manufacturing and Commerce, mentioned the Sec. 201 tariffs misplaced their effectiveness after corporations discovered workarounds.
“Whereas the Sec. 201 investigation and tariffs have been an vital effort, the precise treatments have been largely ineffective, as a result of prolonged exemption for bifacial merchandise, which significantly weakened aid, and the carveout of many nations, akin to Cambodia,” he mentioned in a press release to Photo voltaic Energy World. “In the end, the American photo voltaic manufacturing business nonetheless wants complete aid, as Chinese language corporations proceed to interact in unfair commerce practices and to hop from nation to nation. The current huge import surges from Indonesia, Laos and now Ethiopia simply exhibit the lengths these corporations will go to try to evade official U.S. commerce legal guidelines and treatments.”
American producers have discovered extra success with antidumping/countervailing responsibility (AD/CVD) investigation requests into imported photo voltaic merchandise. The Alliance efficiently petitioned for tariffs on imports from Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam after an inflow of imported cells and panels was seen from Southeast Asia. The group is now asking for assist towards imports from India, Indonesia and Laos. A choice needs to be reached later this yr.
Additionally associated to the photo voltaic market, a Sec. 232 investigation into the polysilicon business was initiated in July 2025. An affirmative Sec. 232 ruling would let the federal authorities impose tariffs on imported merchandise if they’re deemed a risk to nationwide safety. These potential polysilicon tariffs would have an effect on each product that comprises polysilicon, together with photo voltaic wafers, cells and panels. A choice in that case may come any day, though no direct timeline has been given by the federal government.
“The polysilicon Sec. 232 continuing may very well be extra profitable in addressing this ongoing ‘whack-a-mole’ habits, if it covers photo voltaic cells and modules and gives complete aid targeted on overseas entities of concern,” Brightbill mentioned.
